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iE Contz.hporaky 

Science Seri 



[HE Science 
OF Fmry 



^ 



X 



The Contemporary Science Series. 



K 



Bj ProfeBBo- Patiuck Reddm r 
a niiutrationii. Secornl Kdllian. 
a lodk— u Indeed Chair namii* nuinnl 



II. ELECTRfCITY IN MODERS LIFK By G. W. db Tuntilmann. 
icted Bketcb of wbnt [i known abovC electrldtr 



THE ORIGIN OF THE ARYANS. Bt Df. Ibaac TatLoh. IIIob- 

tmted. atci-nd Edition. 

■' Cnnon Tn^loi ii probablv tha mnC enorctopradic all-raaDd Kbolar now 

HTlnf!. Hij new lolmoe on ffie Origin of tha Arjans In a flral-mte eyamijlo of 

tba Bicellanl utwunt (o vliieh he can torn hia eiceptionnllj' nlde and latieJ 

MormattoiL . . . Maitarty and BilmostHB."— Paii Mull Qaaltt. 

rv. PHYSIOGNOMY AND EXPRBSaiON. By P. Mantkoazza. 
lUoitTsted. 
■'PmfMaoc &lM<<«ETUEEa IBS wtitor full of life and spirit, and tha nat'iml 
nttnclivonera of hia subject is not dosCroyed by hii uloutiac handling o( IL" 
—taenay W<irld (Bonton). 

T. EVOLUTION AND DISEASE. By J, R SUTTOS, P KCS. With 

13.1 UlostrailoDB. 

"Tha book ia aa Intemtlng na s noral, wfUtoat aacriaoe of occamcr or 

■yatem, and in calculated to g1»» an appreolstlon of tlie fundttmBniala of 

pittiglnET (a tho Iny reador, «blle [onuing a, uieful collision ti( llliutnlloii:i 

of disease fol medical cofarence."— Journal nt Mtnlai Stiiiaat. 

VL THE VILLAGE COMMUNITY. By G. U Gomub. TUiishated. 
■- The tmlC of aoiofi yeara of inTestlgntion on a aubfect f bich has o( lata 
Btti^CLBdoiDcbattantinn, andiaof much importance, >n"™a°l> as it ilos at 
.,._ 1 — :. -. -..J auciety."— .dnlifuarj/. 






THE CRIMINAL By Haveiocs Ellis. Illnstrntea. 
nblr written, an Instiaotiie, and a moet entertBlDlog bi 



jQnai'Mrlif A 
fin. SANITY AND INSANITY. 



IX HYPNOTISM. By Dc. Albkbi Moll. Saeond Edition. 

"Markaaitep o( sume Importjinca In tbe study of somo difficult phyaiii- 
lofpoO und psTctiolo^cal pioblema which have not yet ivcfilved mnch attuii- 
tioalo the loientiBo world D[ England."— ifnlurA 
X. MANUAL TRAINING. By Dr. C. ^L WoohWahD, Director of tha 
HannU Trainine School, RL Iionlx. Illnatrated. 
"There is no greater uuttmiity an the anhjecl than Piofeiaor Woodward."— 
JTnnaAHtcr Qvardian. 

XL THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. By E. Sidnhy Hahtland. 
" Mr. Hartland'a ivinli <rlll win the uyrapathy of nil e,iTnBat students, both 
by the knowledee it dbpUya, aud by a thorousli love ftiid appceoiatioQ ot Ilia 
!iul>ject, which is evident t]irua|{liout."— Sp»Ia(sr. 

XII. PRIMITIVE POLK. By Elm BEams. 

'I atmljol the qnestiona ol wowirty, mwi^wo, 

m.fi.1, to^ tha BVulHtion of «iiJ£tilV-^aia a«A« 



Xm, THK EVOLUTION OP MABRIAOB. Bj Profewm LiTOirBlWlW. 



Amonj; tbe distlngniibed C^ncb atuilenti of loaoiaf:^, ProleiioT LaUnu. 
.ohBBlonjiBtMdintbearst ' ~ ■ ■ ... - 

1 fiom bias and shj of oeger^ — . 

U [■ bis chiof buHlaeu.''— £<;{04«^ 



He approirboa tlis'^nal stody of m 



and Bbr of Eener^iBatioDi. To collect acmtuiUB, bad mpprftlM 
ih;h h luB i^iuof buHlaeu.''— £<;{04«^ 

XIV. BACTERIA AND THEIR PRODUCTS. By Dr. Q. SniH Wood- 

HEAD. lUuBtmted. 
" An flXcgllAiib inmmuT ot Ujii pnflent ataCfi of knOHledga of the ul^act.''— ' < 

ICV. EDUCATION AND HEREDITT, By J. M. GcTitr. 

"It iB at once a treatise on aoclolon, etblcs, und piedairoelca. It h 
doubtful whethflraraoDB all tha Mdonte.olutionisM wbohavo had tbeiraay 

Bel doctriiie ao boldly (o Its exuama logical <nnseqDeiice."~ProI«Har 

SVL THE MAN OF GENIUS, By Professor Lohbeoso. Ulnrtrated. I 
OR. F.r t.h« m».t campTabeiuiTe and tascinatine ooUectlon oF facta ■■ 
nlng: gaoioa irbicli baa yet been bioogbt together.' 



I 



mal of Mtnl 

AMMAR .. __. 
eometry. 



XVn. THE GRAMMAR OP BCIBNCB. By KaM, Peabbok, H.A.,1 

- ■ - ■ ■" Illiistrated. ' 




^^■The 1 

KVm. PROPERTY: ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT. 
feasor Letourneiu. 
"M. LetourneauluureaaaKTeBtdeal, aadheneinitonalDhaieBelectalfl 

and inlerptotei bi« ^ti with considerable judgmenf -— ' "~" "'--' ■ 

mituldf Sitita. 
SIX. VOLCANOES; PAST AND PRESENT. By Edwabd H(iij,M.A 
LL.D., F.B.S. With ib iUnstrntioas. 
"A very lesdable account ol the phenom 
quak«i.--A'alw-e. 

XX. PUBLIC HEALTH. By Dr. J. P. J. Btkbs. 



XXL MODERN METEOROLOGY, By Fhahu Waldo, Pt-U., etc 
With IIZ niostmbiona. 
"The present Tolume Is the beat on the aabjaot for ganena naotbat we 
have 80811."— DailjF Telegrapli. 
XXn, THE GERM-PLASM : A TaBORT OF Uerebitt. By Dr. A, 
WeiSHahn. niuatrated. 
"There has been no work published since Darwin's own books whiidi has 
brought to light BO loanj new facta."— flrflwA Medical Journal. 
XXni. INDUSTiUES OF ANIMALS. By P. Houaaii. lllnstrated. 
" lliB aocmacj is wndoublad, yet his facta out-niarteE all romanco. Theie 
facts are here made use of as mntcriula wherewith to form the mighty fabrie 



XXIV MAN AND WOMAN : A Stddt ay Human Bkoosdi 

gEXDAi. CrahaCTEKS. Dy Havei.ock Blles. with IHuatrattona. 

"This striking and Important volnroe. . . abould pU™ Mr. Httielook 

in the Bret rank o! adentiac tblnkars of the timB.'-H'e^hmmtlf «.!«», 

XXV. THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN CAPITAJJSM. A Ettot 
Machine PaODUCtioM. By Jons A. HoiiaoN, MA, With Diafirama. 

XXVI. APPAJUTIONS AND THOUaHT-TRANSFEEBNCE : OB, 

COMUVSICAIIOH ^ ■ "— — -"^» n-n„n. 



>AraJ 



THE CONTEMP ORARY SCIENCE SERIES. 

Edited by HAVELOCK ELLIS. 



THE SCIENCE OF fPAIRY TALES, 



/ 



/ 



The Science 



OF 



Fairy Tales. 



AN INQUIRY INTO FAIRY MYTHOLOGY. 






BY 

EDWIN SIDNEY HARTLAND, 

FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. 



LONDON : 

WALTER SCOTT, 

24, WARWICK LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW. 

1891. 



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PREFACE. 



The chief object of this volume is to exhibit, in a 
manner acceptable to readers who are not specialists, 
the application of the principles and methods which 
guide investigations into popular traditions to a few of 
the most remarkable stories embodying the Fairy super- 
stitions of the Celtic and Teutonic peoples. Some of 
the subjects discussed have already been dealt with by 
more competent inquirers. But even in these cases 
I have sometimes been able to supply additional illus- 
trations of the conclusions previously arrived at, and 
occasionally, I hope, to carry the argument a step or 
two ifurther than had been done before. I have thus 
tried to render the following pages not wholly valueless 
to students. 

A portion of the book incorporates the substance of 
some articles which I contributed to ** The Archaeological 
Review " and *' Folk-Lore." But these have been to a 
considerable extent re-written ; and it is hoped that in 
the process wider and more accurate generalizations have 
been attained. 

My hearty thanks are due to the various friends whose 
generous assistance has been recorded in the footnotes, 
and especially to Professor Dr. George Stephens, the 
veteran antiquary of the North, and Mr. W. G. 
Fretton, who have not measured their pains on behalf 
of one whose only claim on them was a comnvotv d^^vc^ 
to pry into the recesses of the past. I am. >3LTvd^T ^X^-OX 



G. nn. ^ 



VI PREFACE. 

deeper obligations to Mr. G. L. Gomme, F.S.A., who has 

S3 readily acceded to my request that he would read the 

proof-sheets, and whose suggestions have repeatedly been 

of the greatest value ; and to Mr, Havelock Ellis for the 

counsel and suggestions which his experience has more 

than once enabled him to give as the book was passing 

through the press. 

I have been anxious to enable the reader who cares to 

do so to verify every statement made ; but some of 

tiem no doubt have escaped reference. Many books 

are cited again and again, and in similar cases the 

reader's time is frequently wasted in searching for the 

first mention of a book, so as to ascertain its title and 

other particulars. To avoid the trouble I have so many 

times experienced in this way, I have put together in 

an Appendix a list of the principal authorities made use 

of, indicating them by the short title by which they are 

cited in the footnotes, and giving sufficient bibliographical 

details to enable them to be identified. Classics and 

works which are in every one's hands I have not thought 

it necessary to include in the list, 

K. S. H. 
Barn WOOD Court, Gloucester, 
2^th October y 1890. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

VACt 

THE ART OF STORY- TELLING.., ... ... ... i 



CHAPTER II. 

SAVAGE IDEAS ... ... ... ... ... 22 

CHAPTER III. 

FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES ... ... 37 

CHAPTER IV. 

FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES {lOtlUnuea) ... 59 

CHAPTER V. 

CHANGELINGS ... ... ... ... ... 93 

CHAPTER VI. 

ROBBERIES FROM FAIRYLAND ... . . ... 135 

CHAPTER VII. 
THE SUPERNATi;j2^L LAVST^ OF TIME IN FAIR\L\^D ,.. \b\ 



VUl CONTENTS. 

PAG£ 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TLME IN FAIRYLAND 

{continued) ... ... ... ... ... 196 

CHAPTER IX. 

The SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND 

(continued) ... ... ... ... ... 222 

CHAPTER X. 

\ SWAN-MAIDENS ... ... ... ... ... 255 

CHAPTER XI. 
SWAN-MAIDENS {continued) ... ... ... ... 283 

CHAPTER XII. 

CONCLUSION ... ... ... ... ... 333 

APPENDIX ... ... ... ... ... 353 

i iN \j jlL» <iV ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 / 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 



CHAPTER J. 



THE ART OF STORY'T-iLLIXG. 



The art of story-telling — Unity of human imagination — Definition of 
Fairy Tales — Variable value of Tradition — Story-telling and the 
story-teller among various peoples — The connection of folk-tales 
with folk-songs — Continuity of Tradition — Need of accuracy and 
good faith in reporting stories. 

' The art of story-telling has been cultivated in all ages 
and among all nations of which we have any record ; it 
is the outcome of an instinct implanted universally in the 
human mind. By means of a story the savage philo- 
sopher accounts for his own existence and that of all the 
phenomena which surround him. With a story the 
mothers of the wildest tribes awe their little ones into 
silence, or rouse them into delight. And the weary 
hunters beguile the long silence of a desert night with 
the mirth and wonders of a tale. The imagination is not 
less fruitful in the higher races ; and, passing through 
forms sometimes more, sometimes less, serious, the art of 
story-telling unites with the kindred arts of dance and 
song to form the epic or the drama, or develops under 
the complex influences of modern life into the prose 
romance and the novel. These in their vatiou^^ ^^^.-^^ 
are its ultimate expression ; and the loftiest ^ew\\\^ \\^s> 



2 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

found no fitter vehicle to convey its lessons of truth and 
beauty. 

But even in the most refined products of the imagina- 
tion the same substances are found which compose the 
rudest. Something has, of course, been dropped in the 
process ; and where we can examine the process stage by 
stage, we can discern the point whereat each successive 
portion has been purged away. But much has also been 
gained. To change the figure, it is like the continuous 
development of living things, amorphous at first, by and 
by shooting out into monstrous growths, unwieldy and 
half-organized, anon settling into compact and beautiful 
shapes of subtlest power and most divine suggestion. But 
the last state contains nothing more than was either 
obvious or latent in the first. Man's imagination, like 
every other known power, works by fixed laws, the 
existence and operation of which it is possible to trace ; / 
and it works upon the same material, — the external r/ 
universe, the mental and moral constitution of man and 
his social relations. Hence, diverse as may seem at first 
sight the results among the cultured Europeans and the 
debased Hottentots, the philosophical Hindoos and the ' 
Red Indians of the Far West, they present, on a close 
examination, features absolutely identical. The outlines 
of a story-plot among savage races are wilder and more 
unconfined ; they are often a vast unhidebound corpse, 
but one that bears no distant resemblance to forms we 
think more reasonable only because we find it difficult to 
let ourselves down to the level of savage ignorance, and 
to lay aside the data of thought which have been won for 
us by the painful efforts of civilization. The incidents, 
making all due allowance for these differences and those 
of climate and physical surroundings, are not merely 
alike ; they are often indistinguishable. It cannot, of 
course, be expected that the characters of the actors in 
these stories will be drawn with skill, or indeed that any 
attention will be paid to them. Character-study is a 



1 



THE ART OF STORY-TELLING. ^ 

late development. True : we ought not to overlook the 
fact that we have to do with barbarous ideals. In a 
rudimentary state of civilization the passions, like the 
arts, are distinguished not by subtlety and complexity, 
but by simplicity and violence of contrast. This may 
account to some extent for what seems to us repulsive, 
inconsistent or impossible. But we must above all things 
beware of crediting the story-teller with that degree of 
conscious art which is only possible in an advanced 
culture and under literary influences. Indeed, the re- 
searches which are constantly extending the history of 
human civilization into a remoter and remoter past, go 
everywhere to show that storytelling is an inevitable and 
wholly unconscious growth, probably arising, as we shall 
see in the next chapter, out of narratives believed to 
record actual events. 

I need not stop now to illustrate this position, which is 
no new one, and the main lines of which I hope will be 
rendered apparent in the course of this volume. But it 
is necessary, perhaps, to point out that, although these 
are the premises from which I start, the limitations im- 
posed by a work of the size and pretensions of this one 
will not allow me to traverse more than a very small 
corner of the field here opened to view. It is, therefore, 
not my intention to attempt any formal proof of the 
foregoing generalizations. Rather I hope that if any 
reader deem it proper to require the complete evidence 
on which they rest, he will be led to further investigations 
on his own behalf. His feet, I can promise him, will 
wander along flowery paths, where every winding will 
bring him fresh surprises, and every step discover new 
sources of enjoyment. 

n^he stories with which we shall deal in the following 
pages are vaguely called Fairy Tales. These we may 
define to be : Traditionary narratives not in their present 
form relating to beings held to be divine, not lo co^tsxo- 
logical or national events^ but in which the ^uiijeii:ii^\.MxA 




4 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

plays an essential part. It will be seen that literary tales, 
such as those of Hans Andersen and Lord Brabourne, 
based though they often are upon tradition, are excluded 
from Fairy Tales as thus defined. Much no doubt might 
be said both interesting and instructive concerning these 
brilliant works. But it would be literary criticism, a 
thing widely different from the scientific treatment of 
Fairy Tales. The Science of Fairy Tales is concerned 
with tradition, and not with literature. It finds its 
subjects in the stories which have descended from mouth 
to mouth from an unknown past ; and if reference be 
occasionally made to works of conscious literary art, the 
value of such works is not in the art they display, but the 
evidence they yield of the existence of given tales in 
certain forms at periods and places approximately capable 
of determination : evidence, in a word, which appro- 
priates and fixes a pre-existing tradition. But even in 
this they are inferior in importance to historical or topo- 
graphical works, where we frequently meet with records 
of the utmost importance in considering the origin and 
* meaning of Folk-tales. 

Literature, in short, of whatever kind, is of no value to 
the student of Fairy Tales, as that phrase is here used, 
save as a witness to Tradition. Tradition itself, however, 
is variable in value, if regard be had alone to purity and 
originality. For a tribe may conceivably be so isolated 
that it is improbable that any outside influence can have 
affected its traditions for a long series of generations ; or 
on the other hand it may be in the highway of nations. 
It may be physically of a type unique and unalloyed by 
foreign blood ; or it may be the progeny of a mingling of 
all the races on the earth. Now it is obvious that if we 
desire to reason concerning the wide distribution, or the 
innate and necessary character of any idea, or of any 
story, the testimony of a given tribe or class of men will 
vary in proportion to its segregation from other tribes 
and classes : where we can with most probability exclude 



THE ART OF STORY-TELLING. 5 

outside influence as a factor in its mental evolution, there 
we shall gather evidence of the greatest value for the 
purpose of our argument. , 

Again : some nations have developed the art of story- 

/telling more highly than others, since some stages of 
civilization are more favourable to this development than 
others, and all nations are not in the same stage. The 
further question may, therefore, be put whether these 
various stages of development may not produce differences 

' of manner in story-telling — differences which may in- 
dicate, if they do not cause, deep-seated differences in the 
value of the traditions themselves. To make my meaning 
clear : a people which requires its story-tellers to relate 
their stories in the very words in which they have been 

, conveyed from time immemorial, and allows no deviation, 

' will preserve its traditions with the least possible blemish 
and the least possible change. In proportion as latitude 
in repetition is permitted and invention is allowed to 

• atone for want of memory, tradition will change and 
become uncertain. Such latitude may be different^ 
encouraged by different social states. A social state is 
part of, and inseparable from, the sum total of arts, ^ 
knowledge, organization and customs which we call the 
civilization^ or the stage of civilization^ of a people. It 
may be worth while to spend a short time in examining 
the mode of story-telling and the requirements of a 
story-teller among nations in different stages of civili- 
zation. We shall thus endeavour to appreciate the 
differences in the manner of telling, and to ascertain in 
general terms how far these differences affect the value of 
the traditions. 

If we turn first to some of the Celtic nations, we find a 

( social state in which the art of story-telling has received 
a high degree of attention. The late Mr. J. F. Campbell, 
to whom the science of Folklore owes an incalculable 
debt, describes a condition of things in tVve "W^^tetw 
Highlands extremely favourable to the cu\tiv^X\otv cA 



6 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

folk-tales. Quoting from one of his most assiduous 
collectors, he says that most of the inhabitants of Barra 
and South Uist are Roman Catholics, unable to speak 
' English or to read or write. Hence it is improbable that 
they can have borrowed much from the literature of 
other nations. Among these people in the long winter 
nights the recitation of tales is very common. They 
gather in crowds at the houses of those who are reputed 
to be good tale-tellers. Their stories frequently relate to 
the exploits of the Ossianic heroes, of whose existence 
they are as much convinced as ordinary English folk are 
of the existence and deeds of the British army in its 
most recent wars. During the tales " the emotions of the 
reciters are occasionally very strongly excited, and so also 
are those of the listeners, almost shedding tears at one 
time, and giving way to loud laughter at another. A 
good many of them firmly believe in all the extriavagance 
of these stories." Another of his collectors, a self- 
educated workman in the employ of the Duke of Argyll, 
writing more than thirty years ago to him, speaks of 
what used to take place about Loch Lomond upwards of 
fifty years before — that is to say, about the beginning of 
the present century. The old people then would pass 
the winter evenings telling each other traditional stories. 
These chiefly concerned freebooters, and tribal raids and 
quarrels, and included descriptions of the manners, dress 
and weapons of their ancestors and the hardships they 
had to endure. The youngsters also would gather, and 
amuse themselves with games or the telling of tales of a 
more romantic cast. But the chief story-tellers appear to 
y\ have been the tailors and shoemakers, who were literally 
journeymen, going from house to house in search of work. 
As they travelled about, they picked up great numbers of 
tales, which they repeated ; " and as the country people 
made the telling of these tales, and listening to hear 
them, their winter night's amusement, scarcely any part 
of them would be lost." In these tales Gaelic words were 



THE ART OF STORY-TELLING. 7 

often used which had dropped out of ordinary parlance, 
giving proof of careful adherence to the ancient forms ; 
and the writer records that the previous year he had 
heard a story told identical with one he had heard forty 
years before from a different man thirty miles away ; and 
this story contained old Gaelic words the meaning of 
which the teller did not know. A gamekeeper from 
Ross-shire also testified to similar customs at his native 
place : the assemblies of the young to hear their elders 
repeat, on winter nights, the tales they had learned from 
their fathers before them, and the renown of the tra- 
velling tailor and shoemaker. When a stranger came to ^ 
the village it was the signal for a general gathering at the 
house where he stayed, to listen to his tales. The good- 
man of the house usually began with some favourite tale, 
and the stranger was expected to do the rest. /It was a 
common saying : " The first tale by the goodman, and 
tales to daylight by the guest." The minister, however, 
came to the village in 1830, and the schoolmaster soon 
followed, with the inevitable result of putting an end to 
these delightful times. ^ 

Not very different is the account given by M. Luzel 
of the Veillees in which he has often taken part in 
^ Brittany. In the lonely farmhouse after the evening 
meal prayers are said, and the life in Breton of the saint 
of the day read, all the family assemble with the 
servants and labourers around the old-fashioned hearth, 
where the fire of oaken logs spirts and blazes, defying the 
wind and the rain or snow without. The talk is of the 
oxen and the horses and the work of the season. The 
women are at their wheels ; and while they spin they sing 
love ditties, or ballads of more tragic or martial tone. 
The children running about grow tired of their games, 
and of the tedious conversation of their elders, and 
demand a tale, it matters not what, of giants, or goblins, 
or witches — nay, even of ghosts. They are soon grati^e.d \ 

^ Campbell, vol. i. pp. xii. xW. \v\\. 



8 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

and if an old man, as frequently happens, be the narrator, 
he is fortified and rewarded for the toil by a mug of cider 
constantly replenished. One such depositary of tradition 
^ is described as a blind beggar, a veritable Homer in 
wooden shoon, with an inexhaustible memory of songs 
ai\d tales of every kind. He was welcome everywhere, 
in the well-to-do farmhouse as in the humble cottage. 
He stayed as long as he pleased, sometimes for whole 
weeks ; and it was with reluctance that he was allowed 
to leave in order to become for a time the charm of 
another fireside, where he was always awaited with im- 
patience.^ 

M. Braga, the Portuguese scholar, quotes an old French 
writer, Jean le Chapelain, as recording a custom in Nor- 
mandy similar to that of Ross-shire, that the guest was 
always expected to repay hospitality by telling tales or 
singing songs to his host. And he states that the 
emigrants from Portugal to Brazil took this custom with 
them. In Gascony M. Arnaudin formed his collection of 
tales a few years ago by assisting at gatherings like those 
just described in Brittany, as well as at marriages and at 
various agricultural festivals.* 

Similar customs existed in Wales within living 
\ memory, and in remote districts they probably exist 
to-day. If they do not now continue in England, it is at 
least certain that our forefathers did not differ in this 
respect from their neighbours. A writer of the seven- 
teenth century, in enumerating the causes of upholding 
" the damnable doctrine of witchcraft," mentions : " Old 
wives* fables, who sit talking and chatting of many false 
old stories of Witches and Fairies and Robin Good- 
fellow, and walking spirits and the dead walking again ; 
all of which lying fancies people are more naturally 
inclined to listen after than to the Scriptures." And if 
we go further back we find in chapter civ. of the 

' Luzel, " Veill6es,"/flj'wV;/. 

" Introduction to Romero, p. x. ; Arnaudin, p. 5. 



THE ARt OF STORY-TELLING. 9 

printed editions of the " Gesta Romanorum ^* an in- 
teresting picture of domestic life. The whole family i» 
portrayed gathering round the fire in the winter evening^ 
and beguiling the time by telling stories. Such we are 
informed was the custom among the higher classes. It i 
was, indeed, the custom among all classes, not only in 1 
England but on the Continent, throughout the Middle ■ 
Ages. The eminent French antiquary, Pajal Lacroix, 
speaks of wakes, or evening parties, where fairy tales and 
other superstitions were propagated, as having a very 
ancient origin. He states that they are still (as we have 
already seen in Brittany and Gascony) the custom in 
most of the French provinces, and that they formed 
important events in the private lives of the peasants.^ 
It is difficult to sever the occasion and mode of the 

^ tale-telling from the character of the teller ; nor would - 
it be wise to do so. And in this connection it is interest- 
ing to pause for a moment on Dr. Pitre's description of 
Agatuzza Messia, the old woman from whom he derived 
so large a number of the stories in his magnificent col- 
lection, and whom he regarded as a model story-teller. I 
am tempted to quote his account at length. " Anything 
but beautiful," he says, " she has facile speech, efficacious 

' phrases, an attractive manner of telling, whence you 
divine her extraordinary memory and the sallies of her 
natural wit. Messia already reckons her seventy years, 
and is a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. 
As a child, she was told by her grandmother an infinity 
of tales which she had learned from her mother, and she 
in turn from her grandfather ; she had a good memory 
and never forgot them. There are women who have 

' heard hundreds of tales and remember none ; and there 
are others who, though they remember them, have not 
the grace of narration. Among her companions of the 

' Thomas Ady, **A Candle in the Dark" (1656) {Cf, Aubrey, 
** Remaines," p. (>i) ; ** Gesta Romanoium," InUoCSi,, ^, -j^y^n. 
(E.E.TiS.); Lacroix, p. 100, 






10 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

Borgo, a quarter of Palermo, Messia enjoyed the reputa- 
tion of a fine story-teller ; and the more one heard her, 
the more one desired to hear. Almost half a century ago 
she was obliged to go with her husband to Messina, and 
lived there some time : a circumstance, this, worthy of 
note, since our countrywomen never go away from their 
own district save from the gravest necessity. Returning 
to her native home, she spoke of things of which the 
gossips of the neighbourhood could not speak : she spoke 
of the I Citadel, a fortress which no one could take, not 
even the Turks themselves ; she spoke of the Pharos of 
Messina, which was beautiful, but dangerous for sailors ; 
she spoke of Reggio in Calabria, which, facing the walls 
of Messina, seemed to wish to touch hands with them ; 
and she remembered and mimicked the pronunciation of 
the Milazzesi, who spoke, Messia said, so curiously as to 
make one laugh. All these reminiscences have remained 
most vivid in her memory. She cannot read, but she 
knows so many things that no one else knows, and 
repeats them with a propriety of tongue that is a pleasure 
to hear. This is a characteristic to which I call my 
readers^ attention. If the tale turns upon a vessel which 
has to make a voyage, she utters, without remarking it, 
or without seeming to do so, sailors' phrases, and words 
which only seamen and those who have to do with 
seamen are acquainted with. If the heroine arrives, poor 
and desolate, at a baker's and takes a place there, Messiahs 
language is so completely that of the trade that you 
would believe that the baking of bread had been her 
business, whereas at Palermo this occupation, an ordinary 
one in the families of the large and small communes of 
the island, is that of professional bakers alone. • • . As a 
young woman Messia was a tailoress ; when through toil 
her sight became weakened, she turned to sewing winter 
quilts. But in the midst of this work, whereby she earns 
her living, she finds time for the fulfilment of her religioys 
duties ; every day, winter and summer, in rain or snow, 



THE ART OF STORY-TELLING. II 

in the gloaming she goes to her prayers. Whatever feast 
is celebrated in the church, she is solicitous to attend : 
Monday, she is at the Ponte delP Ammiraglio praying 
for the Souls of the Beheaded ; Wednesday, you find her 
at San Giuseppe keeping the festival of the Madonna 
della Providenza ; every Friday she goes to San Francesco 
di Paola, reciting by the way her accustomed beads ; and 
if one Saturday pass when she ought to go to the 
Madonna dei Cappuccini, another does not ; and there 
she prays with a devotion which none can understand 
who has not experienced it. Messia witnessed my birth 
and held me in her arms : hence I have been able to 
collect from her mouth the many and beautiful traditions 
to which her name is appended. She has repeated to the 
grown man the tales she had told to the child thirty years 
before ; nor has her narration lost a shade of the old 
sincerity, vivacity, and grace. The reader will only find 
the cold and naked words ; but Messia's narration con- 
sists, more than in words, in the restless movement of the 
eyes, in the waving of the arms, in the gestures of the 
whole person, which rises, walks around the room, bends, 
and is again uplifted, making her voice now soft, now 
excited, now fearful, now sweet, now hoarse, as it por- 
trays the voices of the various personages, and the action 
which these are performing.'' ^ 

Such a woman as is here described is a born story- 
teller ; and her art, as exhibited in the tales attributed to 
her in Dr. Pitre's collection, reaches perhaps the highest 
point possible in tradition. Women are usually the best 
narrators of nursery tales. Most of the modern collec- 
tions, from that of the brothers Grimm downwards, owe 
their choicest treasures to women. In the Panjab, how- 
ever, Captain Temple ascribes to children marvellous 
power of telling tales, which he states they are not slow 
to exercise after sunset, when the scanty evening meal is 
done a ' 'her in their little beds beneath 

p.xvii. 



r 



12 THE SCIENCE OP PAIRY TALES. 

the twinkling stars, while the hot air cools, the mosquito 
sings, and the village dogs bark at imaginary foes. The 
Rev. Hinton Knowles' collection was gathered in Cash- 
mere apparently from men and boys only ; but all classes 
contributed, from the governor and the pandit down to 
the barber and the day-labourer, the only qualification 
being that they should be entirely free from European 
influence.^ 

But nursery tales told simply for amusement are far 3 
from being the only kind of traditional narrative.^ 
Savage and barbarous races, to whom the art of writings ^ 
is unknown, are dependent upon memory for such 
records as they have of their past ; and sometimes aj 
professional class arises to preserve and repeat the stories 
believed to embody these records. Among the Maoris 
and their Polynesian kinsmen the priests are the great 
depositaries of tradition. It is principally from them 
that Mr. White and the Rev. W. W. Gill have obtained 
their collections. But the orators and chiefs are also fully 
conversant with the narratives ; and their speeches are 
filled with allusions to them, and with quotations from 
ancient poems relating the deeds of their forefathers. 
The diflSculty of following such allusions, and conse- 
quently of understanding the meaning of the chiefs when 
addressing him on behalf of their fellow-countrymen, 
first induced, or compelled, Sir George Grey, when 
Governor of New Zealand, to make the inquiries whose 
results are embodied in his work on Polynesian 
Mythology. The Eskimo of Greenland, at the other 
end of the world, divide their tales into two classes : 
the ancient and the modern. The former may be con- 
sidered. Dr. Rink says, as more or less the property of 
the whole nation, while the latter are limited to certain 
parts of the country, or even to certain people who claim 
to be akin to one another. The art of telling these tales 
is " practised by certain persons specially gifted in this 
' "Wide-awake Storiesj" p. i ; Knowles, p. ix. 



THE ART OF STORY-TELLING. 1 3 

respect ; and among a hundred people there may 
generally be found one or two particularly favoured 
with the art of the raconteur^ besides several tolerable 
narrators." It is the narrators of the ancient tales " who 
compose the more recent stories by picking up the 
occurrences and adventures of their latest ancestors, 
handed down occasionally by some old members of the 
family, and connecting and embellishing them by a 
large addition of the supernatural, for which purpose 
resort is always had to the same traditional and mystic 
elements of the ancient folklore." ' 

But the art of story-telling has not everywhere given .^ 
*rise to a professional class. When the Malagasy receive 
friends at their houses, they themselves recount the 
deeds of their ancestors, which are handed down from 
father to son, and form the principal topic of conver- 
sation. So, too, the savage Ahts of Vancouver Island sit 
round their fires singing and chatting ; " and the older 
men, we are told, lying and bragging after the manner 
of story-tellers, recount their feats in war, or the 
chase, to a listening group." Mr. Im Thurn has 
drawn an interesting picture of the habits at night 
of the Indian tribes of Guiana. The men, if at home, 
spend the greater part of the day in their hammocks, 
smoking, " and leisurely fashioning arrow-heads, or some 
such articles of use or of ornament. . . , When the 
day has at last come to an end, and the women 
have gathered together enough wood for the fires 
during the night, they, too, throw themselves into their • 
hammocks ; and all talk together. Till far into the 
t night the men tell endless stories, sometimes droning 
them out in a sort of monotonous chant, sometimes 
delivering them with a startling amount of emphasis 
and gesticulation. The boys and younger men add to 
the noise by marching round the houses, blowing horns 

' White, vol. i. p. vi. ; Sjr G. Grey, p. vii. ; Gill, p. xx. ; Rink, 
PP- 83, 85. 



14 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

and playing on flutes. There is but little rest to be 
obtained in an Indian settlement by night. These 
people sleep, as dogs do, without difficulty, for brief 
periods, but frequently and indifferently by day or night 
as may be convenient. The men, having slept at 
intervals during the day, do not need night-rest ; the 
women are not considered in the matter. At last, in the 
very middle of their stories, the party drops off to sleep ; 
and all is quiet for a short while. Presently some woman 
gets up to renew the fires, or to see to some other 
domestic work. Roused by the noise which she makes, 
all the dogs of the settlement break into a chorus of 
barks and yelps. This wakes the children, who begin 
to scream. The men turn in their hammocks, and 
immediately resume their stories, apparently from the 
point at which they left off, and as if they had never 
ceased. This time it is but a short interruption to the 
silence of the night ; and before long everything again 
becomes quiet, till some new outbreak is caused, much as 
was the last. In the very middle of the night there are 
perhaps some hours of quiet. But about an hour before 
dawn, some of the men having to go out to hunt, 
effectually wake everybody about them by playing flutes, 
or beating drums, as they go to bathe before leaving the 
settlement." ^ 

But the folk-tale cannot be separated in this inquiry » 
from the folk-song with which, in its origin and develop- 
ment, it is so closely connected. In India there are, or 
were until recent years, everywhere professional bards ; 
and the stories told in Indian villages are frequently the 
substance of the chants of these bards. More than this, 
the line between singing and narration is so faintly 
"drawn, that the bards themselves often interpose great 
patches of prose between the metrical portions of their 
recitations. Fairs, festivals, and marriages all over 

* Ellis, ** History of Madagascar," vol. i. p. 264 ; Sproat, ** Scenes 
and Studies of Savage Life," p. 51 ; Im Thurn, pp. 215, 216, 



THE ART OF STORY-TELLING. 15 

India are attended by the bards, who are always already 
to perform for pay and drink. Mr. Leland believes the 
stories he obtained from the Christian Algonkins of New 
England, concerning the ancient heroes of the race and 
other mythical personages, to have once been delivered as 
poems from generation to generation and always chanted. 
The deeds of Maori warriors are handed down in song ; 
just as we find in Beowulf, the story of Hrothgar^s 
ancestors was sung before his own companions-in-arms 
by his gleemen to the accompaniment of some instru- 
ment after the mead cup had gone round. The Roman 
historian attests the prevalence among the German tribes 
of ancient songs, which he expressly mentions as their 
only kind of memory or record, — thus showing that all 
their tales, whether mythologic or heroic, were for better 
preservation cast into metrical form. Some of these, 
enshrining the deeds of their heroes, were chanted on 
going into battle, in order to arouse the warriors' courage. 
And as far back as the light of history, or of literature, 
penetrates, not only the Teutonic, but also the Celtic 
nations loved to have their actions celebrated thus. 
To a Welsh king his household bard was as necessary as 
his domestic chaplain, or his court physician, and in the 
ancient laws his duties, his precedence, his perquisites, 
and even the songs he was expected to sing, are minutely 
prescribed. The bards were organized into a regular 
order, or college, with an official chief. They were not 
merely singers or poets, but also tale-tellers ; and from the 
Mabinogion we gather that listening to songs and tales 
was one of the habitual, if not daily pastimes, of a court.^ 

It is needless to follow through the Middle Ages fl 
the history of the troubadour, the minstrel and the i 
jongleur, who played so large part in the social life 

" Temple, ** Legends of the Panjab,"vol. i. p. v. ; Thorburn, p. 172 ; 
Leland, p. 12; Taylor, p. 306; "Beowulf," lay 16; Tacitus, *'Ger- 
niania," cc, 2, 3 ; '*x\ncient Laws and Institutions of Waks" ^?\x\i\\Q. 
Record Comniissiojj, 1 841), pp, 1 5, 35, &c. 



1 6 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

of those times. Many of them were retainers of noble- 
men and kings ; but others roamed about from place 
to place, singing their lays and reciting their stories (for 
they dealt in prose as well as verse), very much in the 
manner of the Indian bards just mentioned. Their stock- 
in-trade must have been partly traditional and partly 
of their own composition. In this respect they were 
probably less hide-bound than their Indian brethren are. 
For the latter, whether retainers of the native grandees, 
as many of them are, or members of the humbler class 
of wandering minstrels, are expected to repeat their lays 
as they have received them. But, although in the main 
these professional gentlemen adhere to the traditional 
words which they know by heart, the temptation must 
be very strong to foist at suitable pauses into their tales 
impromptu passages — best described in stage language 
as " gag '* — which they think will be acceptable to their 
audience. And whether or not this be actually the case 
with the Indian bards, we are expressly told that it is so 
with the Arab story-teller, and that it accounts for much 
of the ribaldry and filth which have become embedded 
in the immortal " Nights.'* A viol having only one 
string accompanies the passages in verse with which the 
stories are interlarded ; and a similar instrument seems 
to be used for the like purpose among the orthodox 
Guslars of Bosnia and Herzegovina.^ A description 
given by Sir Richard Burton of a story-teller at the 
bazaar at Tangier may stand, except as to the external 
details, for that of an Arab reciter throughout Northern 
Africa and the Moslem East. "The market people," 
he says, "form a ring about the reciter, a stalwart man, 
affecting little raiment besides a broad waist-belt into 
which his lower chiffons are tucked, and noticeable only 
for his shock hair, wild eyes, broad grin, and generally 

' Burton, '* Nights," vol. x. p. 163; "Revue des Trad. Pop." 
vol. iv. p. 6. In Greece and Albania, however, the viol would seem 
not to be used. Women are the chief reciters. Von Hahn, vol. i. p. ix. 



THE ART Ot* STORY-TELLING. 1 7 

disreputable aspect. He usually handles a short stick ; 
and, when drummer and piper are absent, he carries a 
tiny tomtom shaped like an hour-glass, upon which he 
taps the periods. This Scealuidhe, as the Irish call him, 
opens the drama with an extempore prayer, proving that 
fie and the audience are good Moslems; he speaks 
slowly and with emphasis, varying the diction with 
breaks of animation, abundant action and the most 
comical grimace : he advances, retires, and wheels about, 
illustrating every point with pantomime ; and his 
features, voice and gestures are so expressive that even 
Europeans who cannot understand a word of Arabic, 
divine the meaning of his tale. The audience stands 
breathless and motionless, surprising strangers by the 
ingenuousness and freshness of feeling hidden under their 
hard and savage exterior. The performance usually ends 
with the embryo actor going round for alms, and 
flourishing in the air every silver bit, the usual honor- 
arium being a few f^lus^ that marvellous money of 
Barbary, big coppers worth one-twelfth of a penny." 
Another writer, who has published modern Arab folk- 
tales, obtained eleven out of twelve from his cook, a 
man who could neither read nor write, but possessed 
an excellent memory. His stories were derived from his 
mother and aunts, and from old women who frequented 
his early home. The remaining tale was dictated by 
a sheikh with some, though small, pretensions to 
education, and this tale, though at bottom a genuine 
folk-tale, presented traces of literary manipulation.* 

The literary touches here spoken of were probably not 
impromptu. But it must be admitted that the tendency 
to insert local colouring and " gag " is almost irresistible 
amongst the Arabs. Dr. Steere notices it as a charac- 
teristic of the story-tellers of the Swahili, a people of 
mixed Arab and Negro descent at Zanzibar ; " and it is 
perhaps inevitable in a professional reciter whose audience, 
* Spitta Bey, p. viii. ' Steere, pp. v., vu. 



1 8 THE SCIENCE OP FAtRY TALES. 

like himself, is restless and vivacious in so high a degree 
The only case in which any restraint would be certain to 
be felt is where a narrative believed to be of religious 
import is given. Under the influence of religious feeling 
^, the most mobile of races become conservative ; and 
traditions of a sacred character are the most likely of all 
to be handed down unchanged from father to son. 
Directly we get outside the charmed circle of religious 
custom, precept, and story, the awe which has the most 
powerful effect in preserving tradition intact ceases to 
work ; and we are left to a somewhat less conservative 
force of habit to retain the old form of words and the 
time-honoured ceremonies. Still this force is powerful ; 
the dislike of voluntary change forbids amendment even 
of formularies which have long ceased to be understood, 
and have often become ridiculous because their meaning 
has been lost. It is by no means an uncommon thing for 
the rustic story-teller to be unable to explain expressions, 
and indeed whole episodes, in any other way than Uncle 
Remus, when called upon to say who Miss Meadows was : 
'* She wuz in de tale. Miss Meadows en de gals wuz, en 
de tale I give you like hi't wer' gun ter me." Dr. Steere, 
speaking of a collection of Swahili tales by M. Jablonsky 
which I think has never been published, tells us that 
almost all of the tales had " sung parts," and of some of 
these even they who sang them could scarcely explain 
the meaning. Here we may observe the connection with 
the folk-song ; and it is a strong evidence of adherence to 
ancient tradition. Frequently in Dr. Steere's own ex- 
perience the skeleton of the story seemed to be contained 
in these snatches of song, which were connected together 
by an account, apparently extemporized, of the intervening 
history. In these latter portions, if the hypothesis of ex- 
temporization were correct, the words of course would be 
different, but the substance might remain untouched. 
I suspect, however, that the extemporization was nothing 
like so complete as the learned writer imagined, but 



THE ART OF STORYTELLING, It} I 

^■Tather that the tale, as told with song and narrative I 

[^mingled, was in a state of gradual decay or transition I 

Ifrom verse to prose, and that the prose portions were, to I 

(almost as great an extent as the verse, traditional. ] 
/Be this as it may, the tenacity with which the illiterate / I 

bstory-teller generally adheres to the substance and to tiie I 

■very words of his narrative is remarkable — and this in | 

■■spite of the freedom sometimes taken of dramatic illustra- I 

id the license to introduce occasional local and J 

i^ersonal allusions and " gag." These are easily separable I 

l.from the genuine tale. What Dr. Kink says of I 

■the Eskimo story-telling holds good, more or less, all I 

■over the world. "The art," he states, "requires the 1 
■ancient tales to be related as nearly as possible in the 

■very words of the original version, with only a few I 

ftarbitrary reiterations, and otherwise only varied according | 

Jto the individual talents of the narrator, as to the mode I 

Kof recitation, gesture, &c. The only real discretionary I 

■ power allowed by the audience to the narrator is the | 
n of a few peculiar passages from other traditions ; 

I but even in that case no alteration of these original or 
k elementary materials used in the composition of tales is 

ladmissibJe. Generally, even the smallest deviation from I 

■the original version will be taken notice of and corrected, I 
^if any intelligent person happens to he present. This 
circumstance," he adds, "accounts for their existence in 
an unaltered shape through ages ; for had there been 

the slightest tendency to variation on the part of the I 

1 narrator, or relish for it on that of the audience, every I 

I- similarity of these tales, told in such widely-separated I 

LcDuntries, would certainly have been lost in the course of I 

fc centuries." Here the audience, wedded to the accustomed I 

I formularies, is represented as controlling any inclination I 

■ to variation on the reciter's part. How far such an atti- 1 
B.tude of mind may have been produced by previous J 
■repetitions in the same words we need not mojiwe. I 
JCemin it 15 that accuracy would bi; Yl^eV^ to ^euwaXw I 



20 tItE SCIENCE OP FAIRV TALES. 

the love of accuracy, and tkat again to react SO as to 
compel adherence to the form of words which the ear 
had been led to expect. Readers of Grimm will re- 
member the anxiety betrayed by a peasant woman of 
Niederzwehr, near Cassel, that her very words and ex- 
pressions should be taken down. They who have 
studied the records collectors have made of the methods 
they have adopted, and the assistance they have received 
from narrators who have understood and sympathized 
with their purpose, will not find anything exceptional in 
this woman^s conduct.^ 

Nor must we overlook the effect of dramatic and panto- 
mimic action. At first sight action, like that of Messia 
or the Arab reciter, might seem to make for freedom in 
narration. But it may well be questioned if this be so to 
any great extent. For in a short time certain attitudes, 
looks, and gestures become inseparably wedded, not only 
in the actor's mind, but also in the minds of the audience 
who have grown accustomed to them, with the passages 
and the very words to which they are appropriate. The 
eye as well as the ear learns what to expect, with results 
proportioned to the comparative values of those two 
senses as avenues of knowledge. The history of the 
stage, the observation of our own nurseries, will show 
with how much suspicion any innovation on the mode of 
interpreting an old favourite is viewed. 
/ To sum up : it would appear that national differences 
Sin the manner of story-telling are for the most part 
J superficial. Whether told by men to men in the bazaar 
or the coffee-house of the East, or by old men or women 
to children in the sacred recesses of the European home, 
or by men to a mixed assembly during the endless nights 
of the Arctic Circle, or in the huts of the tropical forest, 
and notwithstanding the license often taken by a pro- 
fessional reciter, the endeavour to render to the audience 
just that which the speaker has himself received from his 
* Rink, pi 85 ; Grimm, ** Marchen/' p. vii. 



THE ART 07 STOHV-TELLING. 



I^edecessors is paramount. The faithful delivery of the 
tradition is the principle underlying all variation of' 
manner ; and it is not confined to any one race or people, i 
It is not denied that changes do take place as the story] 
passes from one to another. This indeed is the inevitable j 
result of the play of the two counteracting forces just' 
described — the conservative tendency and the tendency to 
' variation. It is the condition of development ; it is what 
makes a science of Folk-tales both necessary and possible. 
Nor can it be denied that some changes are voluntary. 
But the voluntary changes are rare ; and the involuntary 
changes are only such as are natural and unavoidable if 
Lthe story is to continue its existence in the midst of the 
fver-shifting social organism of humanity. The student 
therefore, know something of the habits, the 
Knatural and social surroundings, and the modes of the 
•thought of the people whose stones he examines. But 
llhis known, it ia not difficult to decipher the documents. 
There is, however, one caution — namely, to be assured 
I that the documents are gathered direct from the lips of 
Vjthe ilUterate story-teller, and set down with accuracy and 
good faith. Every turn of phrase, awkward or coarse 
though it may seem to cultured ears, must be unre- 
lentingly reported ; and every grotesquery, each strange 
word, or incomprehensible or silly incident, must be 
y given without flinching. Any attempt to soften down 
I inconsistencies, vulgarities or stupidities, detracts from the 
I value of the text, and may hide or destroy something 
Ifi-om which the student may be able to make a discovery 
»of importance to science. Happily the collectors of the 
L.present day are fully alive to this need. The pains they 
I take to ensure correctness are great, and their ejcperiences 
I in so doing are often very interesting. Happily, too, the 
|;student soon learns to distinguish the collections whose 
I sincerity is certain from those furbished up by literary 
I art. The latter may have purposes ai a.m.M'iti"mfttt(, \.o 
ll^v^ but b^/ood that they ^re of comQ3LtatWcVj\Voia Msa, 



CHAPTER 11. 



SAVAGE IDEAS. 



Sagas and Marchen — Fairy Tales based upon ideas familiar to savages — 
The Doctrine of Spirits — The Doctrine of Transformation — 
Totemism — Death — Witchcraft — The predominance of imagination 
over reason in savages — Method of the inquiry. 

Fairy Tales, as defined in the previous chapter, fall under 

two heads. Under the first we may place all those 

stories which relate to definite supernatural beings, or 

\definite orders of supernatural beings, held really to 

exist, and the scenes of which are usually laid in some 

specified locality. Stories belonging to this class do not 

, necessarily, however, deal with the supernatural. Often 

they are told of historical heroes, or persons believed to 

have once lived. For instance, the legends of Lady 

^Godiva and Whittington and his Cat, which, however 

improbable, contain nothing of the supernatural, must be 

reckoned under this head equally with the story of the 

Luck of Edenhall, or the Maori tale of the Rending 

asunder of Heaven and Earth. In other words, this class 

is by no means confined to Fairy Tales, but includes all 

stories which are, or at all events have been up to recent 

years, and in the form in which they come to us, looked 

upon as narratives of actual occurrences. They are called 

^agas, , The other class of tales consists of such as are 

told simply for amusement, like Jack and the Beanstalk, 

\ Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Puss in Boots. They 

may embody incidents believed in other countries, or in 

other stages of civilization, to be true in fact ; but in the 



SAVAGE IDEAS. 23 

form in which we have them this belief has long since 
been dropped. In general, the reins are thrown upon the 
neck of the imagination ; and, marvellous though the 
I story be, it cannot fail to find acceptance, because nobody 
asserts that its events ever took place, and nobody 
desires to bring down its flights to the level either of 
logic or experience. Unlike the saga, it binds the con- 
science neither of teller nor of listener ; its hero or 
heroine has no historical name or fame, either national 
or local ; and being untrammelled either by history or 
probability, the one condition the tale is expected to fulfil 
is to end happily. Stories of this class are technically 
called Mdrchen : we have no better English name for 
them Xhdixi Nursery Tales. 

If we inquire which of these two species of tales is the 
earlier in the history of culture, it seems that the priority 
naust be given to sagas. The matter, indeed, is not quite 
free from doubt, because low down in the scale of civiliza- 
tion, as among the Ainos of Japan, stories are told which 
appear to be no more than mdrchen ; and because, on the 
other hand, it is at all times easier, even for experienced 
collectors, to obtain sagas than mdrchen. But among 
the lower races, a vastly preponderating number of tales 
recorded by Europeans who have lived with them on 
the terms of the greatest intimacy is told to account for 
the phenomena of nature, or their own history and 
organization. From many savage peoples we have no 
other stories at all ; and it is not uncommon to find nar- 
ratives at bottom identical with some of these told as 
mdrchen among nations that have reached a higher plane. 
In these cases, at all events, it looks as if the tales, or 
tales from which they had been derived, had been origin- 
ally believed as true, and, having ceased to be thus 
received, had continued to be repeated, in a shape more 
or less altered, for mere amusement. If we may venture 
to affirm this and to generalize from such cases^ this is th^ 
way in which miirchen have arisen. ' 






V 



24 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

But sagas are not only perhaps the most ancient of 
tales, they are certainly the most persistent. By their 
attachment to places and to persons, a religious sanction 
is frequently given to them, a local and national pride 
is commonly felt in preserving them. Thus they are 
'/ remembered when nursery tales are. forgotten ; they are 
^ more easily communicated to strangers ; they find their 
way into literature and so are rendered imperishable. 

Fairy Tales of both these classes are compounded of 
incidents which are the common property of many 
nations, and not a few whereof are known all over the 
habitable globe. In some instances the whole plot, a ^ 
more or less intricate one, is found among races the most 
diverse in civilization and character. Where the plot is -^ 
intricate, or contains elements of a kind unlikely to have . 
originated independently, we may be justified in suspect- ' 
ing diffusion from one centre. Then it is that the history 
and circumstances of a nation become important factors 
in the inquiry ; and- upon the purity of blood and the 
isolation from neighbouring races may depend our decision 
as to the original or derivative character of such a tradi- - 
tion. Sometimes the passage of a story from one country • 
to another can be proved by literary evidence. This is 
markedly the case with Apologues and Facetious Tales, two 
classes of traditions which do not come within the purview 
of the present work. But the story has then passed 
' beyond the traditional stage, or else such proof could not 
be given. In tracing the history of a folk-tale which has 
entered into literature, the problem is to ascertain how 
, far the literary variations we meet with may have been 
influenced by pre-existing traditional tales formed upon 
similar lines. In general, however, it may be safely said 
of Fairy Tales (with which we are more immediately con- 
cerned) that the argument in favour of their propagation 
' from a single centre lacks support. The incidents of 
which they are composed are based upon ideas not 
peculiar to any one people, ideas familiar to savages 



SAVAGE IDEAS. 25 

everywhere, and only slowly modified and transformed as 
savagery gives way to barbarism, and barbarism to modern 
civilization and scientific knowledge of the material 
phenomena of the universe. The ideas referred to are 
expressed by races in the lower culture both in belief and 
in custom. And many of the tales which now amuse 
our children appear to have grown out of myths believed 

F in the most matter-of-fact way by our remote forefathers ; 
while others enshrine relics of long-forgotten customs and 

\ modes of tribal organization. 

There is one habit of thought familiar to savage tribes 
that to us, trained through long centuries of progressive 
knowledge, seems in the highest degree absurd and even 
incomprehensible. As a matter of every-day practice we 
cannot, if we would, go back to that infantine state of / 
mind which regards not only our fellow men and women, 
but all objects animate and inanimate around us, as 
instinct with a consciousness, a personality akin to our 
own. This, however, i5_the savage philosophy of things. 
To a large proportion of human beings at the present day 

' beasts and birds, trees and plants, the sea, the mountains, 
the wind, the sun, the moon, the clouds and the stars, day 
and night, the heaven and the earth, are alive and pos- 
sessed of the passions and the cunning and the will they 
feel within themselves. The only difference is that these 
things are vastly cleverer and more powerful than men. \^ 
Hence they are to be dreaded, to be appeased — if possible, 
to be outwitted — even, sometimes, to be punished. We 
may observe this childish habit of thought in our nurseries 
today when one of our little ones accidentally runs 
against the table, and forthwith turns round to beat the 
senseless wood as if it had voluntarily and maliciously 
caused his^^-path ; or when another, looking wistfully out 
of window, adjures the rain in the old rhyme : 



** Rain, rain, go away I 
Come again another day\" 



26 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

Po3ts, too, and orators in their loftiest moods revert to 
language and modes of expression which have no mean- 
ing apart from this belief in the conscious animation of 
every object in the world. They may move us for the 
moment by their utterances ; but we never take their 
raptures literally, ^o the savage, however, it is no 
figure of speech to call upon the sun to behold some great 
deed, or to declare that the moon hides her face ; to assert 
that the ocean smiles, or that the river swells with rage, 
and overwhelms a wayfarer who is crossing it, or an un- 
suspecting village on its banks. These phrases for him 
fit the facts of nature as closely as those which record 
that the man eats or the boy runs. Nay, what would 
seem incredible to him would be to deny that the sun can 
see or the moon hide her face, the ocean smile or the 
river become enraged. Conscious personality and human 
emotions are visible to him everywhere and in all things. 
It matters not to the savage that human form and 
speech are absent. These are not necessary, or, if they 
are, they can be assumed either at will or under certain 
conditions. For one of the consequences, or at least one of 
the accompaniments, of this stage of thought is the belief 
in change of form without loss of individual identity. 

, The bear whom the savage meets in the woods is too 
cunning to appear and do battle with him as a man ; but 
he could if he chose. The stars were once men and 
women. Sun and moon, the wind and the waters, 
perform all the functions of living beings : they speak, 
they eat, they marry and have children. Rocks and 
trees are not always as immovable as they appear : some- 
times they are to be seen as beasts or men, whose shapes 
they still, it may be, dimly retain. 

It follows that peoples in this stage of thought cannot 

, have, in theory at all events, the repugnance to a sexual 
union between man and the lower animals with which 
religious training and the growth of civilization have 

impressed all the higher races. Such peoples admit the 



SAVAGE IDEAS. 27 

possibility of a marriage wherein one party may be human 
and the other an animal of a different species, or even a 
tree or plant. If they do not regard it as an event which 
can take place in their own time and neighbourhood, it 
does not seem entirely incredible as an event of the past ; 
and sometimes customs are preserved on into a higher 
degree of culture — such as that of wedding, for special 

^ purposes, a man to a tree — unmistakably bespeaking 
former, if not present, beliefs. Moreover, tribes in the 
stage of thought here described, hold themselves to be 
actually descended from material objects often the most 
diverse from human form. These are not only animals 
(beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, and even insects) or vege- 
tables, but occasionally the sun, the sea, the earth, and 
other things unendowed with life. Such mythic ancestors 

. are worshipped as divine. This superstition is called 
Totemism^ and the mythic ancestor is known as the 
Totem, As a people passes gradually into a higher stage 
of culture, greater stress is constantly laid on the human 
qualities of the Totem, until it becomes at length an 

^ anthropomorphic god. To such deity the object previously 
reverenced as a Totem is attached, and a new and 
modified legend grows up to account for the connection. 
The belief in metamorphosis involves opinions on the 

. subject of death which are worth a moment's pause. 
Death is a problem to all men, to the savage as to the 
most civilized. Least of any can the savage look upon 
it as extinction. He. emphatically believes that he has 
something within him that survives the dissolution of 

' his outward frame. This is his spirit, the seat of his 
consciousness, his real self. As he himself has a spirit, 

. so every object in the world has a spirit. He peoples the 
universe, as he knows it, with spirits akin to his own. 
It is to their spirits that all the varied objects around 
him, all the phenomena observable by day or by night, 
owe the consciousness, the personality, I have already 
tried to describe. These spirits ate seipax^XA.^ 1\qtcv \}cv& 



N 



28 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

material form with which they are clad. When the 
savage sleeps, his spirit goes forth upon various adven- 
' tures. These adventures he rememhers as dreams ; hut 
they are as veritable as his waking deeds ; and he awakes 
when his spirit returns to him. In his dreams he sees 
his friends, his foes ; he kills imaginary bears and 
venison. He knows therefore that other men's spirits 
travel while their bodies sleep and undergo adventures 
like his own, and in company often with his spirit. He 
knows that the spirits of wild animals range abroad and 
encounter his spirit. What is death but the spirit going 
forth to return no more ? Rocks and rivers perhaps 
cannot die, or at least their life immeasurably exceeds 
that of men. But the trees of the forest may, for he 
can cut them down and burn them. Yet, inasmuch as it 
is the nature of a body to have an indwelling spirit, 
death — the permanent severing of body and spirit — 
cannot occur naturally ; it must be due to the machina- 
tion of some enemy, by violence, by poison, or by 
■ sorcery. 

The spirit that has gone forth for ever is not, by 
quitting its bodily tenement, deprived of power offensive 
and defensive. It is frequently impelled by hostile 
motives to injure those yet in the flesh ; and it must, 
therefore, be appeased, or deceived, or driven away. 
This is the end and aim of funeral rites : this is the 
meaning of many periodical ceremonies in which the 
whole tribe takes part. For the same reason, when the 
hunter slays a powerful animal, he apologizes and lays 
the blame on his arrows or his spear, or on some one else. 
For the same reason the woodman, when he cuts down a 
tree, asks permission to do so and offers sacrifices, and he 
provides a green sprig to stick into the stump as soon as 
the tree falls, that it may be a new home for the spirit 
thus dislodged. For since the spirit is neither slain, nor 
deprived of power, by destruction of the body, or by 
seyersnce from the body, it may find another to dwell in. 



I 



SAVAGE IDEAS. i9 

Spirits of dead men, like other spirits, may assume fresh 
bodies, new forms, and forms not necessarily human. A 
favourite form is that of a snake : it was as a snake that 
the spirit of Anchises appeared and accepted the offer- 
ings made by his pious son. In their new forms the 
spirits of the dead are sometimes, as in this case, kindly, 
at other times malicious, but always to be treated with 
respect, always to be conciliated ; for their power is 
great. They can in their turn cause disease, misfortune, 
death. 

Another characteristic of the mental condition I am 
describing must not be omitted. Connection of thought, 
even though purely fortuitous, is taken to indicate actual 
connection of the things represented in thought. This 
connection is, of course, often founded on association of 
time or place, and once formed it is not easily broken. 
For example, any object once belonging to a man recalls 
the thought of him. The connection between him and 
that object is therefore looked upon as still existing, and 
he may be affected by the conduct shown towards it. 
This applies with special force to such objects as articles of 
clothing, and still more to footprints and to spittle, hair, 
nail-parings and excrement. Injury to these with malicious 
intent will hurt him from whom they are derived. In 
the same way a personal name is looked upon as in- 
separable from its owner ; and savages are frequently 
careful to guard the knowledge of their true names from 
others, being content to be addressed and spoken of by 
a nickname, or a substituted epithet. The reason of this 
is that the knowledge of another's name confers power 
over that other : it is as though he, or at least an 
essential part of him, were in the possession of the 
person who had obtained the knowledge of his name. 
It is perhaps not an unfair deduction from the same 
premises that endows an image with the properties of 
its prototype — nay, identifies it with its protot^^e. T'oh, 
I^tds on the ooe haad to idol-woibhip, a.v\d uvl \^:i& o'Co.^ . 



30 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

hand to the rites of witchcraft wherein the wizard is said 
to make a figure of a man, call it by his name, and then 
transfix it with nails or thorns, or burn it, with the 
object of causing pain and ultimately death to the person 
represented. Nor is a very different process of thought 
discernible in the belief that by eating human or other 
flesh the spirit (or at any rate some of the spiritual 
qualities) formerly animating it can be transferred to the 
eater. So a brave enemy is devoured in the hope of 
acquiring his bravery ; and a pregnant woman is denied 
the flesh of hares and other animals whose qualities it is 
undesirable her children should have. 

To minds guiltless of inductive reasoning an accidental 
coincidence is a sure proof of cause and effect. Travel- 
lers* tales are full of examples of misfortunes quite 
beyond foresight or control, but attributed by the savages 
among whom the narrators have sojourned to some 
perfectly innocent act on their part, or merely to their 
presence, or to some strange article of their equipment. 
Occasionally the anger of the gods is aroused by these 
things J and missionaries, in particular, have suffered 
much on this account. But sometimes a more direct 
causation is imagined, though it is probably not always 
easy to distinguish the two cases. Omens also are 
^ founded upon accidental coincidences. The most lively 
imagination may fail to trace cause and effiect between 
the meeting of a magpie at setting out and a fruitless 
errand following, or between a certain condition of the 
entrails of an animal sacrificed and a victory or defeat 
thereafter. But the imagination is not to be beaten thus. 
If the magpie did not cause failure, at all events it 
foretold it ; and the look of the entrails was an omen of 
the gain or loss of the battle. 

Again, a merely fanciful resemblance is a sufficient 
association to establish actual connection. Why do the 
Bushmen kindle great fires in time of drought, if not 
because of the similarity in appearance between smoke 



SAVAGE IDEAS. 3 1 

and rain-clouds ? Such resemblances, to give a familiar 
instance, have fastened on certain rocks and stones many 
legends of transformation in conformity with the belief 
already discussed ; and they account for a vast variety of 
symbolism in the rites and ceremonies of nations all over 
the world. 

The topic is well nigh endless ; but enough has been 
said to enable the readfer to see how widely pervasive in 
human affairs is the belief in real connection founded on 
nothing more substantial than association of thought, - 
however occasioned. Nothing, indeed, is too absurd for * 
this belief. It is one of the most fruitful causes of 
superstition ; and it only disappears very gradually from 
the higher civilization as the reasoning powers become 
more and more highly trained. In magic, or witchcraft, 
we find it developed into a system, with professional 
ministers and well-established rules. By these rules its 
ministers declare themselves able to perform all the 
wonders of transformation referred to above, to command 
spirits, to bring distant persons and things into their 
immediate presence, to inflict injury and death upon 
whom they please, to bestow wealth and happiness, and 
to foretell the future. The terror they have thus 
inspired, and the horrors wrought under the influence of 
that terror, form one of the saddest chapters of history.^ 

I do not of course pretend that the foregoing is a 
complete account of the mental processes of savage 
peoples. Still less have I attempted to trace the history 
of the various characteristics mentioned, or to show th^ 
order of their evolution. To attempt either of these 

* I have not thought it necessary to illustrate at length the character- 
istics of savage thought enumerated above. They are exhaustively dis- 
cussed by Dr. Tylor in *' Primitive Culture," Sir John Lubbock in 
••The Origin of Civilization," Mr. Andrew Lang in ••Myth Ritual and 
Religion," and some of them by Mr. J. G. Frazer in ** Totemism," and 
more recently in ♦•The Golden Lough," published since these pages 
were written. 



32 



THE SCIENCE or FA[RY TA1.E9. 



things would be beyond the scope of the present work. 
I have simply enumerated a few of the elements in the 
psychology of men in a low state of culture which it 
is needful to bear in mind in order to understand the 
stories we are about to examine. In those stories we 
shall find many impossibilities, many absurdities and 
many traces of customs repulsive to our modes of 
thought and foreign to our manners. The explanation 
is to be obtained, not by speculations based on far- 
fetched metaphors supposed to have existed in the speech 
of early races, nor in philological puzzles, but by soberly 
inquiring into the facts of barbarian and savage life and 
into the psychological phenomena of which the facts 
are the outcome. The evidence of these facts and phe- ■ 
nomena is to be found scattered up and down the pages / 
of writers of every age, creed and country. On hardly 
any subject have men of such different degrees of learn- 
ing, such various and opposite prejudices, left us their 
testimony — testimony from the nature of the subject 
more than ordinarily liable to be affected by prejudice, 
and by the limitations of each witness's powers of observa- 
tion and opportunities of ascertaining the truth. But 
after all deductions for prejudice, mistake, inaccuracy and 
every other shortcoming, there is left a strong, an in- 
vincible consensus of testimony, honest, independent and 
full of undesigned corroborations, to the development of 
the mind of all races in the lower culture along the lines 
here indicated. Nay, more ; the numerous remains of 
archaic institutions, as well as of beliefs among the most 
advanced nations, prove that they too have passed through 
the very same stages in which we find the most backward 
still lingering — stages which the less enlightened classes 
even of our own countrymen at the present day are loth 
to quit. And the further we penetrate in these investi- 
gations, the more frequent and striking arc the coinci- 
dences between the mental phenomena already described 
which are still manifested by savage peoples, and those 



I 



I 



.VAGE IDEAS. 33 

if wliicli the evidence has not yet disappfiai'ed from our 

Nor need we be surprised at this, for the root whence . 
all these phenomena spring is the predominance of 
imagination over reason in the ucciviUzed. Man, while 
experience is limited to a small tract of earth, and 
his life is divided between a struggle with nature and 
his fellow-man for the permission and the means to live, 
on the one hand, and seasons of idleness, empty perforce 
of every opportunity and every desire for improving hia 
condition, on the other, cannot acquire the materials of 

real knowledge of his physical environment. His only 
data for interpreting the world and the objects it contains, 
so far as he is acquainted with them, are liis own con- 
sciousness and his own emotions. Upon these his drafts 
are unbounded ; and if he have any curiosity about the 
origin and government of things, his hypotheses take the 
shape of tales in which the actors, whatever form they 
bear, are essentially himself in motive and deed, but 
magnified and distorted to meet his wishes or his fears, 
or the conditions of the problem as presented to his 
hmited vision. The thought which is the measure of 
his universe is as yet hardly disciplined by anything 
beyond his passions. 

Nor does the predominance of the imagination issue 
only in these tales and in songs — the two modes of ex- 
pression we most readily attribute to the imagination. 
In practical life it issues in superstitious observances, and 
in social and political institutions. Social institutions 
are sometimes of great complexityi even in the depth of 
savagery. Together with political institutions they supply 
the model on which are framed man's ideas of the rela- 
tionship to one another and to himself of the supernatural 
beings whom he creates ; and in turn they reflect and 
perpetuate those ideas in ceremonial and other observ- 
The student of Fairy Tales, therefore, cannot 

ford to neglect the study of institutions •, lo\ "tt. alte.tv 
4 




34 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

throws a light altogether unexpected on the origin and 
meaning of a story. Tradition must, indeed, be studied 
as a whole. As with other sciences, its division into parts 
is natural and necessary ; but it should never be forgotten 
that none of its parts can be rightly understood with- 
out reference to the others. By Tradition I mean the 
, entire circle of thought and practice, custom as well as 
belief, ceremonies, tales, music, songs, dances and other 
'viauseraents, the philosophy and the superstitions and 
die institutions, delivered by word of mouth and by 
example from generation to generation through unre- 
membered ages : in a word, the sum total of the psycho- 
logical phenomena of uncivilized man. Every people has 
its own body of Tradition, its own Folk-lore, which com- 
prises a slowly diminishing part, or the whole, of its 
mental furniture, according as the art of writing is, or 
is not| known. The invention of writing, by enabling 
records to be made and thoughts and facts to be com- 
municated with certainty from one to another, first 
renders possible the accumulation of true knowledge and 
ensures a constantly accelerating advance in civilization. 
But in every civilized nation there are backward classes 
to whom reading and writing are either quite unknown, 
or at least unfamiliar ; and there are certain matters in 
the lives even of the lettered classes which remain more 
or less under the dominion of Tradition. Culture, in 
the sense of a mode of life guided by reason and utilizing 
the discoveries and inventions that are the gift of science, 
finds its way but slowly among a people, and filters only 
sluggishly through its habits, its institutions and its creeds. 
Surely, however, though gradually it advances, like a 
rising tide which creeps along the beach, here under- 
mining a heap of sand, there surrounding, isolating, and 
at last submerging a rock, here swallowing up a pool 
brilliant with living creatures and many-coloured weed; 
there mingling with and ovenvhelming a rivulet that-j 
/caps doivn ta its embrace, untU a.\\ Vkii shoie is coven 



1 

I 



SAVAGt IDEAS. 



3S 



I 



with its waters. Meanwhile, he who would understand 
its course must know the conformation of the coast, — the 
windings, the crags (their composition as well as their 
shape), the hollows, the sands, the streams ; for without 
these its currents and its force are alike inexplicable. 
The analogy must not be pressed too far ; but it will 
help us to understand why we find a fragment of a 
custom in one place, a portion of a tale jumbled up with 
portions of dissimilar tales in another place, a segment 
of a superstition, and again a worn and broken relic of a 
once vigorous institution. They are the rocks and the 
sands which the flood of civilization is first isolating, then 
undermining, and at last overwhelming, and hiding from 
our view. They are (to change the figure) survivals of an 
earlier state of existence, unintelligible if regarded singly, 
made to render up their secret only by comparison with 
other survivals, and with examples of a like state of ex- 
istence elsewhere. Taken collectively, they enable us to 
trace the evolution of civilization from a period before 
history begins, and through more recent times by channels 
whereof history gives no account. 

These are the premises whence we set out, and the 
principles which will guide us, in the study on which we 
are about to enter. The name of Fairy Tales is legion u 
but they are made up of incidents whose number is com- [ 
paratively limited. And though it would be impossible 
to deal adequately with more than a small fraction of 
them in a work like the present, still a selection may be 
so treated as to convey a reasonably just notion of the 
application of the principles laid down and of the results 
to be obtained. In making such a selection several in- 
teresting groups of stories, unconnected as between 
themselves, might be chosen for consideration. The 
disadvantage of this course would be the fragmentary 
.nature of the discussions, and consequently of the con- 
lusions arrived at. It is not wholly possvbVe to wtivi. 
fe in ari^ mode of treaXmenXi ^int Vt '■» 



36 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

possible to lessen it. I propose, therefore, to deal with 
a few of the most interesting sagas relative to the Fairy 
Mythology strictly so called. We shall thus confine our 
view to a well-defined area, in the hope that we may 
obtain such an idea of it as in its main lines at all events 
may be taken to be fairly true to the facts, and that we 
may learn who really were these mysterious beings who 
played so large a part in our fathers' superstitions. As 
yet, however, we must not be disappointed if we find that 
the state of scientific inquiry will not admit of many 
conclusions, and such as we may reach can at present 
be stated only tentatively and with caution. Science, 
like Mr. Fox in the nursery tale, writes up over all the 
doors of her palace : 

** Be bold, be bold, but not too bold." 

Many a victim has found to his cost what it meant to 
disregard this warning. 



CHAPTER III. 



PAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDVVIVES. 



I 



Dries of midwives who have been summoned to the birlh of fairies — 
Human visitors to Fairyland must not cat tliere — Tile reason- 
Fairies' gratitude — Tlje conditions of fairy gift?. 

A TALE, the scene of which is laid near Beddgelcrt, runs, 
as translated by Professor Rhys, in this way : — "Once on 
a time, when a midwife from Nanhwynan had newly got 
to the Hafodydd Brithion to pursue her calling, a gentle- 
man came to the door on a fine grey steed and bade her 
come with him at once. Such was the authority with 
which he spoke, that the poor midwife durst not refuse 
to go, however much it was her duty to stay where she 
was. So she mounted behind him, and off they went, 
like the flight of a swallow, through Cwmllan, over the 
Bwlch, down Nant yr Aran, and over the Gadair to Cwni 
Hafod Ruffydd before the poor woman had time even to 
say Oh ! When they got there, she saw before her 
a magnificent mansion, splendidly Ut up with such 
lamps as she had never before seen. They entered the 
court, and a crowd of servants in expensive liveries came 
:to meet them, and she was at once led through the great 
tiiall into a bed-chamber, the like of which she had never 
■seen. There the mistress of the house, to whom she 
lad been fetched, was awaiting her. She got through 
'her duties successfully, and stayed there until the lady 
ibad completely recovered, nor had she spent any part of 
ler life so merrily ; there was naught but festivity day 
id night ; dancing, singing, and e'n4\es5 i^q\ckv^ 



38 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

reigned there. But merry as it was, she found she must 
go, and the nobleman gave her a large purse, with the 
order not to open it until she had got into her own 
house ; then he bade one of his servants escort her the 
same way she had come. When she reached home she 
opened the purse, and, to her great joy, it was full of 
money ; and she lived happily on those earnings to the 
end of her life." ' 

It is a long leap froiji Carnarvonshire to Lapland, 
where this story is told with no great variation. A 
clergyman's wife in Swedish Lappmark, the cleverest 
midwife in all Sweden, was summoned one fine summer's 
evening to attend a mysterious being of Troll race and 
great might, called Vitra. At this unusual call she took 
counsel with her husband, who, however, deemed it best 
for her to go. Her guide led her into a splendid building, 
the rooms whereof were as clean and elegant as those of 
very illustrious folk ; and in a beautiful bed lay a still 
more beautiful woman, for whom her services were re- 
quired, and who was no other than Vitra herself. Under 
the midwife's care Vitra speedily gave birth to a fair girl, 
and in a few minutes had entirely recovered, and fetched 
all sorts of refreshments, which she laid before her bene- 
factress. The latter refused to eat, in spite of Vitra's 
reassuring persuasion, and further refused the money 
which the Troll-wife pressed upon her. Vitra then sent 
her home, bidding her look on the table when next she 
entered her cowherd's hut and see what she would find 
there. She thought no more of the matter until the 
following spring, when on entering the hut she found on 
the table half a dozen large spoons of pure silver with her 
name engraved thereon in neat letters. These spoons 
long remained an heirloom in the clergyman's family to 
testify the truth of the story. A Swedish book, published 
in i77Sj contains a tale, narrated in the form of a legal 

'"Y Cymmrodor," vol. v. p. 70, translated from "Y Brython," 
vol, IV, p. 2^1, 



FAIRY BIRTHS A\D HUMAN MIDWIVES. 



39 



I 



declaration solemnly subscribed on the isih April 1671 
by the fortunate midwife's husband, whose name was 
Peter Rahm, and who also seems to have been a clergy- 
man. On the authority of this declaration we arc called 
on to believe that the event recorded actually happened 
in the year 1660. Peter Rahm alleges that he and his 
wife were at their farm one evening late when there 
came a little man, swart of face and clad in grey, who 
begged the declarant's wife to come and help hb wife 
then in labour. The declarant, seeing that they had to 
do with a Troll, prayed over his wife, blessed her, and 
bade her in God's name go with the stranger. She 
seemed to be borne along by the wind. After her task 
accomplished she, like the clergyman's wife just 
mentioned, refused the food oifered her, and was borne 
home in the same manner as_she had come. The next 
day she found on a shelf in the sitting-room a heap of 
old silver pieces and clippings, which it is to be supposed 
the Troll had brought her,' 

Apart from the need of human aid, common to all the; 
legends with which we are dealing, the two points\ 
emphasized by these Swedish tales are the midwife's ■ 
refusal of food and the gratitude of the Troll, In a{ 
Swabian story the Earthman, as he is called, apologizes 
for omitting to offer food. In this case the midwife was 
afraid to go alone with her suramoner, and begged that 
her husband might accompany her. This was permitted ; 
and the Earthman showed them the way through the 
forest with his lantern, for it was of course night. They 
came first to a moss door, then to a wooden door, and 
lastly to a door of shining metal, whence a staircase went 
down into the earth, and led them into a large and 
splendid chamber where the Earthwife lay. When the 
object of their visit was accomplished the Earthman 

'Poestion, p. Ill ; Giimm, "Teul. Mylh." p. 457, note, quoting nl 

ngth the declaraiian from Uiilpher, " Sainlingen on Jamllaod." 

translation will be found in Keighthy.p. 112. 



40 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

thanked the woman much, and said : " You do not relish 
our meat' and drink, wherefore I will bestow something 
else upon thee.'* With these words he gave her a whole 
apronful of black coals, and taking his lantern again he 
lighted the midwife and her husband home. On the 
way home she slily threw away one coal after another. 
The Earthman said nothing until he was about to take 
his leave, when he observed merely : " The less you 
scattered the more you might have." After he had 
gone the woman* s husband remonstrated with her, 
bidding her keep the coals, for the Earthman appeared 
in earnest with his gift. When they reached home, 
however, she shook out her apron on the hearth, and 
behold ! instead of coals, glittering true gold pieces. 
The woman now sought eagerly enough after the coals 
she had thrown away, but she found them not." 

Confining our attention for the moment to the refusal 
of food, it would seem that the Earthman's apology in 
the foregoing narrative is, as too many human apologies 
are, a mere excuse. The real reason for the midwife's 
abstention was not that fairy food was distasteful, but that 
' she durst not touch it, under penalty of never again 
returning to the light of day. A Danish tradition tells 
of a woman who was taken by an elf on Christmas 
Eve down into the earth to attend his wife. As soon as 
the elfwife was delivered her husband took the child 
away ; for if he could find two newly married persons in 
the bridal bed, before they had repeated their Paternoster, 
he could, by laying the child between them, procure for 
it all the good fortune intended for the newly wedded 
pair. During his absence the elfwife took the oppor- 
tunity of instructing her helper as to her conduct when 
he returned ; and the first and chief point of her advice 
was to eat nothing that was offered her. The elfwife 
was herself a Christian woman who had been inveigled 
down into the dwellings of the elves ; she had eaten, and 

' Meier, p. J^^, 



FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MTDWIVES. 



r therefore had never escaped again. On the elf s return, 
accordingly, the midwife refused food, and he said : 
"They did not strike thee on the mouth who taught 
thee chat." Late rabbinical writings contain a similar 
legend of a Mohel, a man whose office it was to circum- 

tcise, who was summoned one winter's night by a stranger 
to perform the ceremony upon a child who would be 
eight days old the following day. The stranger led him 
toa lofty mountain, into the bowels of which they passed, 
and after descending many flights of steps found them- 
selves in a great city. Here the Mohel was taken to 
I a palace, in one of whose apartments was the child's 
mother lying. When she saw the Mohel she began to 
weep, and to!d him that he was in the land of the 
Mazikin, but that she was a human being, a Jewess, who 
had been carried away when Httlefrom home and brought 
thither. And she counselled him to take good heed to 
refuse everything whether of meat or drink that might 
be offered him : "For if thou taste anything of theirs 
thou wilt become like one of them, and wilt remain here 
for ever.'' ' 
We touch here upon a very ancient and widespread 
superstition, which we may pause to illustrate from 
different parts of the world. A Manx tale, which can 
be traced back to Waldron, narrates the night adventure 
of a farmer who lost his way in returning home irom 
Peel, and was led by the sound of music into a large hall 
where were a great number of little people feasting. 
Among them were some faces he seemed to know ; but 
he took no notice of them until the little folk offered him 
drink, when one of them, whose features seemed not un- 
known to him, pUicked him by the coat and forbade Iiim, 
whatever he did, to taste anything he saw before him ; 
"for if you do," he added, "you will be as I am, and 
return no more to your family." " 
' Thorpe, vol. ii, p. laS, from Thide, " Danmaiys ¥o'^,ws^" -, 



42 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

It is necessary for the hero of a Picard story to go and 
seek the devil in his own abode. The devil of popular 
imagination, though a terrific ogre, is not the entirely 
Evil One of theologians ; and one of his good points in 
the story referred to is that he has three fair daughters, 
the fairest of whom is compelled by the hero to help him 
in overcoming her father. She accordingly instructs him 
to eat no meat and to drink no wine at the devil's house, 
otherwise he will be poisoned. This may remind us of 
Kan Pudai, who in the Altaic ballad descends with his 
steed to the middle of the earth and encounters various 
monsters. There the grass and the water of the moun- 
tain forest through which he rode were poison. In both 
cases, what is probably meant is, that to eat or drink is to 
return no more from these mysterious abodes ; and it 
may be to the intent to obviate any such consequence 
that Saint Peter, in sending a certain king's son down 
through a black and stinking hole a hundred toises deep 
underground, in a Gascon tale, to fetch Saint Peter's own 
sword, provides him with just enough bread in his wallet 
every morning to prevent his bursting with hunger. An 
extension of this thought sometimes even prohibits the 
hero from accepting a seat or a bed offered by way of 
hospitality on the part of the devil, or the sorceress, to 
whose dwelling his business may take him, or even to 
look at the fair temptress who may seek to entice him to 
cat.^ 

The meaning of the superstition is not easy to trace, 
but it should be remembered that in the lower stages of 
human civilization no distinction is drawn between 
supernatural or spiritual beings who have never been, 
enclosed in human bodies, and the spirits of the dead, 
lavage philosophy mingles them together in one phan-: 
iksmagoria of grotesquery and horror. The line which 

^** M^lusine/' vol. i. p. 446 ; Kadloff, vol. i. p. 78 ; Blad6, vol. i. p» 
161 ; Cosquin, vol. ii. p. 10 ; Cavallius, p. 281 ; ** Revue des Trad. 
tpiop." TOL iv. p. 222. 



FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES. 43 

separates fairies and ogres from the souls of men has 
gradually grown up through ages of Christian teaching ; 
and, broad as it may seem to us, it is occasionally hardly 
visible in these stories. Every now and then it is 
ignored, as in the case of the old friends found among 
the " little people " by the Manx farmer. Less startling 
than these, but quite as much in point, are the women, 
like some already mentioned, who are carried off into 
Fairyland, where they become wives and mothers. They 
can never come back to their old life, though they retain 
enough of the " mortal mixture *' to require the adven- 
turous human midwife to relieve their pains. Accord- 
ingly, we need not be surprised if the same incidents of 
story or fibres of superstition attach at one timeHo ghosts 
and at another to the non-human creatures of imagina- 
tion, or if Hades and Fairyland are often confounded. 
Both are equally the realm of the supernatural. We 
may therefore inquire whether eating is forbidden to the 
chance sojourner in the place of the dead equally as to 
the sojourner in Fairyland, if he wish to return to the 
upper air. And we shall find that it is. 

Proserpine ate seven grains of a pomegranate which 
grew in the Elysian Fields, and so was compelled to 
remain in the Shades, the wife of "the grisly king." 
Thus, too, when Morgan the Fay takes measures to get 
Ogier the Dane into her power she causes him to be 
shipwrecked on a loadstone rock near to Avalon. Es- 
caping from the sea, he comes to an orchard, and there 
eats an apple which, it is not too much to say, seals his 
fate. Again, when Thomas of Erceldoune is being led 
down by the Fairy Queen into her realm, he desires to 
eat of the fruit of certain trees. 



** He presed to pul the frute with his honde, 
As man for fode was nyhonde feynte j 
She seid, Thomas, lat them stande. 
Or ellis the fiend will the ateynte. 



44 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

If thou pulle the sothe to sey, 
Thi soule goeth to the fyre of hell 
Hit cummes never out til domusday, 
But ther ever in payne to dwelle." 

An old story preserved for us by Saxo Grammaticus describes 
the visit of some Danish heroes to Guthmund, a giant 
who rules a delightful land beyond a certain river crossed 
by a golden bridge. Thorkill, their conductor, a Scandi- 
navian Ulysses for cunning, warns his companions of the 
various temptations that will be set before them. They 
must forbear the food of the country, and be satisfied with 
that which they had brought with them ; moreover, they 
must keep apart from the natives, taking care not so much 
as to touch them. In spite, however, of ThorkilPs warn- 
ings to them, and his excuses in their behalf to the king, 
some of the heroes fell and were left behind when their 
friends were at last allowed to depart.' So far we see 
that the prohibition and the danger we found extant in 
the Fairyland of modern folk-tales apply also to the 
classic Hades ; and we have traced them back a long way 
into the Middle Ages in French, British, and Danish 
traditions relating to fairies and other supernatural 
existences, with a special threat of Hell in the case of 
Thomas of Erceldoune. 

On the other side of the globe the Banks' islanders 
believe, like the Greeks, in an underground kingdom of 
the dead, which they call Panoi. Only a few years ago 
a woman was living who professed to have been down 
there. Her object had been to visit her brother, who 
had recently died. To do this she perfumed herself with 
water in which a dead rat had been steeped, so as to give 
herself a death-like smell. She then pulled up a bird's 
nest and descended through the hole thus made. Her 
brother, whom of course she found, cautioned her to eat 
nothing, and by taking his advice she was able to return. 

* Child, vol. i. p. 319; "Thomas of Erceldoune," p. 11 (Cambridge 
Text); Saxo, '* Gesta Dan." 1. viii. 



FilRy BIRTUS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES, 45 

similar tale is told of a New Zealand woman of rank, 
' who was lucky enough to come back from the abode of 
^departed spirits by the assistance of her father and his 
repeated commands to avoid tasting the disgusting food 
, of the dead. Wainamiiinen, the epic hero of the Finns, 
, determined to penetrate to Manala, the region of the 
I dead. We need not follow in detail his voyage ; it will 
I suffice to say that on his arrival, after a long parley with 
' the maiden daughter of Tuoni, the king of the island, 
[ beer was brought to him in a two-eared tankard. 

" WainSlnoinen, old and Iruaty, 
Gai'd awhile upon the tankard ; 
Lo I within it frogs were spawning, 
Worois about ils sides were layiug. 
Words in this wise then he olter'd : 
' Not lo drink have I come hither 
From the tankard of Manala, 
Not to empty Tuoni's lieiker ; 
Thc7 who drink of beer are drowned. 
Those who drain the can are ruin'd.' " ' 

The hero's concluding words might form a motto for 
our teetotallers ; and in any case his abstinence enabled 
him to succeed in his errand and return. A point is 
made in the poem of the loathsome character of the 
beverage offered him, which thus agrees with the poison 
referred to in some of the narratives I have previously 
cited, The natives of the Southern Seas universally 
represent the sustenance of spirits as filthy and abomin- 
able. A most remarkable coincidence with the descrip- 
tion of Tuoni's beer occurs in a curious story told on one 
• of the Hcrvey Islands, concerning a Mangaian Dante. 
g apparently near death, this man directed that, as 
Boon as the breath was out of his body, a cocoa-nut should 
L be cracked, and its kernel disengaged from the shell and 
upon his stomach under the grave-clothes. 
' Joiiraal of Aiillirop. Insl. vol. x. p. aSl ; Shurlland, p. 150J 
J^Kalewala," rune xvi. 1. 293, 



4fi tHE SCIENCE OF fAlRV TALES. ' 

Having descended to the Shades, he beheld Miru, the 
horrible hag who rules them, and whose deformities need 
not now be detailed. She commanded him to draw 
near. "The trembling human spirit obeyed, and sat 
down before Mini, According to her unvarying practice 
she set for her intended victim a bowl of food, and bade 
him eat it quite up. Miru, with evident anxiety, waited 
to see him swallow it. As Tekanae took up the bowl, to 
his horror he found it to consist of living centipedes. The 
quick-witted mortal now recollected the cocoa-nut kernel 
at the pit of his stomach, and hidden from Miru's view 
by his clothes. With one hand he held the bowl to his 
hps, as if about to swallow its contents ; with the other 
he secretly held the cocoa-nut kernel, and ate it — the 
bowl conceahng the nut from Miru. It was evident to 
the goddess that Tekanae was actually swallowing some- 
thing : what else could it be but the contents of the fatal 
bowl? Tekanae craftily contrived whilst eating the 
nourishing cocoa-nut to allow the live centipedes to fall 
on the ground one or two at a time. As the intended 
victim was all the time sitting on the ground it was no 
difficult achievement in this way to empty the bowl com- 
pletely by the time he had finished the cocoa-nut. Miru 
waited in vain to see her intended victim writhing in 
agony and raging with thirst. Her practice on such 
occasions was to direct the tortured victim-spirit to dive 
in a lake close by, to seek relief. None that dived into 
■ that water ever came up alive ; excessive anguish and 
quenchless thirst so distracting their thoughts that they 
were invariably drowned. Miru would afterwards cook 
and eat her victims at leisure. Here was a new event in 
her history : the bowl of living centipedes had been dis- 
posed of, and yet Tekanae manifested no sign of pain, no 
intention to leap into the cooling, but fatal, waters. Long 
did Miru wait ; but in vain. At last she said to her 
visitor, ' Return to the upper world ' (i.e., to life). ' Only 
^ remember this— do not speak, against me to mortals, j 



FAIHY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES. 



47 



r Reveal not my ugly form and my mode of treating my 

F visitors. Should you be so foolish as to do so, you will 

( certainly at some future time come back to my domains, 

[ and I will see to it that you do not escape my vengeance 

; second time ! ' Tekanae accordingly left the Shades, 

} and came back to life " ; but he, it is needless to say, care- 

l fully disregarded the hag's injunction, or we should not 

have had the foregoing veracious account of what happens 

below.' 

The tortures reserved for Miru's victims cast a weird 
light on the warning in the Picard story against eating ., 
and drinking what the devil may olfer. But whether 
poisoning in the latter case would have been the pre- 
liminary to a hearty meal to be made off the unlucky 
youth by his treacherous host, or no, it is impossible to 
determine. What the tales do suggest, however, is that . 
the food buried with the dead by uncivilized tribes may 
be meant to provide them against ths contingency of 
having to partake of the hospitality of the Shades, and so 
afford them a chance of escaping back to the upper air. 
But, putting this conjecture aside, we have found tha, 
supposition that to eat of fairy food is to return no more, 
equally applicable to the world of the dead as to Fairy- 
land, In seeking its meaning, therefore, we must not be 
satisfied without an explanation that will fit both. Almost 
all over the earth the rite of hospitality has been 
held to confer obligations on its recipient, and to 
unite him by special ties to the giver. And even 
I where the notion of hospitality does not enter, to 
I join in a common meal has often been held to 
I symbolize, if not to constitute, union of a \'ery sacred 
m kind. The formation of blood relationship, or brother- 

■ hood, 'and formal adoption hito a tribe or family (cerc- 

■ inonies well known in the lower culture), are usually, if 
^RlOt always, cemented in this way. The modern wedding 
^niFeak^t, with its bridecake, is a survival (tQxn. a, n^t-^ 
^ ' Gill, p. 172. 




5© THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

Conversely, when the midwife is rewarded with that \ 
which seems valuable it turns out worthless. An Irish- ^ 
woman, in relating a professional experience among the 
Good People, wound up her story as follows : " The 
king slipped five guineas into my hand as soon as I was 
on the ground, and thanked me, and bade me good-night. 
I hope I'll never see his face again. I got into bed, and 
couldn't sleep for a long time ; and when I examined 
my five guineas this morning, that I left in the table- 
drawer the last thing, I found five withered leaves of 
oak — bad scran to the giver ! " This incident recalls 
the Barber's tale of his fourth brother in the " Arabian 
Nights." This unlucky man went on selling meat to 
a sorcerer for five months, and putting the bright new 
money in which the latter paid him into a box by itself ; 
but when he came to open the box he found in it 
nothing but a parcel of leaves, or, as Sir Richard Burton 
has it, bits of white paper cut round to look like coin. 
Chinese folklore is full of similar occurrences, which we 
cannot now stay to discuss. But, returning to western 
traditions, there is a way of counteracting the elves' 
transforming magic. The wife of a farmer named Niels 
Hansen, of Uglerup, in Denmark, was summoned to 
attend a troll-wife, who told her that the troll, her 
husband, would offer her a quantity of gold ; " but," 
she said, " unless you cast this knife behind you when 
you go out, it will be nothing but coal when you reach 
home." The woman followed her patient's advice, and 
so continued to carry safely home a costly present of 
gold.* 

The objection of supernatural beings to iron, and its 

Miillenhoff, " Sagen, &c., der Herzogthiimer Schleswig, Ilolstein und 
Lauenburg " ; Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 173; Wratislaw, p. 40; Wen- 
zig, p. 198 ; Liebrecht, p. 100, citing **Resultsof a TourinDardistan," 
part iii. p. 3. 

' Kennedy, p. 106 ; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 130, quoting Thiele, " Dan- 
mark's Folkesagn," 



FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES. 51 

(Ower of undoing their charms, will be considered in a 

future chapter. The good luck of Niels Hansen's wife 

foffers meantime another subject of interest ; for it was 

I'due to her own kindness of heart. A short time before 

Ishe had been raking hay in a field, when she caught 

I large and fat toad between the teeth of her rake. 

ihe gently released it, saying ; " Poor thing I I see that 

lou needest help ; I will help thee." That toad was 

fihe troll-wife, and as she afterwards attended her she 

was horrified to see a hideous serpent hanging down just 

above her head. Her fright led to explanations and an 

expression of gratitude on the part of the troll-wife. 

This incident is by no means uncommon ; but a very 

few examples must suffice here. Generally the woman's 

terror is attributed to a millstone hanging over her head. 

I At Grammendorf, in Pomerania, a maid saw, every time 

l:Bhe went to milk the cows, a hateful toad hopping about 

Ijp the stable. She determined to kill it, and would have 

seized it one day had it not, in the very nick of time, 

Succeeded in creeping into a hole, where she could not 

■get at it. A few days after, when she was again busy in 

''the stable, a little Ulk, as the elves there are called, came 

and invited her to descend with him into Fairyland. 

On reaching the bottom of a staircase with her conductor, 

yShe found her services were required for an Ulkwife, 

i time was at hand. Entering the dwelling she 

Iras frightened to observe a huge millstone above her, 

ispended by a silken thread ; and the Ulk, seeing her 

Jterror, told her she had caused him exactly the same, 

Rwhen she chased the poor toad and attempted to 

The girl was compelled to share in the feast 

bhtch followed. When it was over she was given a 

feiece of gold, that she was carefully to preserve ; for so 

Bong as she did so she would never be in want of money. 

But her guide warned her at parting never to relate her 

experience, otherwise the elves would fetch her ai^aTO, 

jf^ ,set her under the millstone, "whidi -woMVi ^Itisio, 



52 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

fall and crush her. Whether this was indeed the con- 
sequence of her narrating this very true story we do not 
know. After some of the beliefs we have been consider- 
ing in the foregoing pages it is, however, interesting 
to note that no ill attended her eating and drinking in 
Fairyland, and that the gold she received did not turn 
to dross, though it possessed other miraculous qualities 
which might very well have led her to the bad end 
threatened by the Ulk. Perhaps a portion of the story 
has been lost/ 

Sometimes a different turn is given to the tale. A 
Swabian peasant-woman was once in the fields with her 
servant-maid, when they saw a big toad. The woman 
told her maid to kill it. The latter replied : " No ; I 
won't do that, and I will stand sponsor for it yet once 
more." Not long afterwards she was sent for to become 
sponsor, and was conducted into the lake, where she found 
the toad now in guise of a woman. After the ceremony 
was over, the lake-woman rewarded her with a bushel of 
straw, and sent by her hand a girdle for her mistress. 
On the way home the girl tried the girdle on a tree to 
see how it would look, and in a moment the tree was 
torn into a thousand pieces. This was the punishment 
devised by the lake-woman for her mistress, because she 
had wished to put her to death while in the form of a 
toad. The straw was, of course, pure gold ; but the 
girl foolishly cast it all away except a few stalks which 
clung to her dress. So a countryman who accidentally 
spilt some hot broth on a witch, disguised as a toad, is 
presented by her another day with a girdle for his little 
son. Suspecting something wrong, he tries it on his 
dog, which at once swells up and bursts. This is a Saxon 
saga from Transylvania ; an Irish saga brings us to the 

' Jahn, p. 64 ; cf, p. 74, where there are two maidens, one of whom 
had saved the toad when the other desired to kill it. They stand 
sponsors for the fairy child, and are rewarded with sweepings which 
turn to gold / a.\so Bartsch, vol. i. p. 50, where a sword is suspended. 



i AND HUMAN ; 



5i 



I FAIR 

same catastrophe. There a girl meets a frog which is 
painfully bloated, and kicks it unfeelingly aside, with the 
words : '' May you never be delivered till I am midwife 
to you ! " Now the frog was a water-fairy dwelling in a, 
lake, into which the girl soon after was convoyed and 
compelled to become the fairy's midwife. By way of 
reward she is presented with a red cloak, which, on her 
way home, she hangs up in admiration on a tree. Well 

I was it for her that she did so, for it set the tree on fire ; 
and had she worn it, as she meant to do, on the following 
Sunday at Mass, the chapel itself would have been in a 
bla^e.' 
The fairies' revenge here missed its mark, though 
calculated on no trifling scale. Indeed, the rewards they , 
bestowed were never nicely balanced with the good or ill \ 
they intended to requite, but were showered in open- 
handed fashion as by those who could afford to be lavish. 
Of this ive have already had several instances j a few 
more may be given. At Palermo a tale is told of a 
midwife who was one day cooking in her own kitchen 
when a hand appeared and a voice cried : " Give to 
me ! " She took a plate and filled it from the food she 
was preparing. Presently the hand returned the plate 
full of golden money. This was repeated daily ; and the 
woman, seeing the generous payment, became more and 
more free with her portions of food. At the end of 
nine months a knocking was heard at the door ; and, 
descending, she found two giants, who caught her up on 
their shoulders, and unceremoniously ran off with her. 
They carried her to a lady who needed her offices, and 
she assisted to bring into the world two fine boys. The 
lady evidently was fully alive to her own dignity, for she 
kept the woman a proper human month, to the distress 
of her husband, who, not knowing what had become of 
her, searched the city night and day, and at last gave her 
up for dead. Then the lady (a fairy princess stve, -sto^ 
Meier, p. 69; J/uJJer, p, I40; "N, andQ.," l^iisei. voVv.-e- V^. 



54 



OF FAIRY TALES. 



asked her if she wished to go, and whether she would be 
paid by blows or pinches. The poor midwife deemed 
her last hour was come, and said to herself that if she 
must die it would be better to die quickly ; so she chose 
blows. Accordingly the princess called the two giants, 
and sent her home with a large sack of money, which 
enabled her to relinquish business, set up her carriage, 
and become one of the first ladies in Palermo, Ten 
years passed ; and one day a grand carriage stopped at 
her door. A lady alighted and entered her pa 
When she had her face to face, the lady said : " Gossip, 
do you know me ? " " No, madam." " What ! do you 
not remember that I am the lady to whom you came 
ten years ago, when these children were born ? I, too, 
am she who held out her hand and asked for food, 
was the fairies' captive ; and if you had not been generous 
enough to give me to eat, I should have died in the night. 
And because you were generous you have become rich, 
Now I am freed, and here I am with my sons." The 
quondam midwife, with tears in her eyes, looked at her, 
and blessed the moment she had done a generous act. 
So they became lifelong friends.' 

I have given the foregoing tale almost at full length 
because it has not, so far as I know, appeared before in 
any other than its native Sicilian dress, and because 
analogous stories are not common in collections from 
Mediterranean countries. This rarity is not, I need 
hardly say, from any absence of the mythological 
material, and perhaps it may be due to accident in the 
formation of the collections. If the story wei^e really 
wanting elsewhere in Southern Europe, we might be 
permitted the conjecture that its presence in Sicily was 
to be accounted for by the Norman settlements there, 

' Pitre, vol. V. p. 23. The story in ils present form does not say that 
Ihe humnn food enabled the Indy to tetum from Fairyland, but only 
Ihst it saved her life. Frobably, however, an earlier version may have 
ebowa the iaddeal ia a more primitise tbnu. 



p 

} r; 



FAIKY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES. SS 

One such story, however, is recorded from the Island of 
Kimolos, one of the Cyclades, but without the human 
captivity in Elfland, without the acts of charity, and 
without the gratitude. The Neruids of the Kimoliote 
caves are of a grimmer humour than the kindly-natured 
underground foltt of Celtic and Teutonic lands, or than 
the heroine of Palermo. The payment to their human 
help is no subject of jest to them. A woman whom they 
once called in was roundly told : " If it be a boy you 
shall be happy ; but if it be a girl we will tear you in four 
parts, and hang you in this cave." The unhappy mid- 
wife of course determined that it should be a boy ; and 
when a girl arrived she made believe it was a boy, 
iwaddled it up tightly, and went home. When, eight 
days afterwards, the child was unpacked, the Nereids' 
rage and disappointment were great ; and they sent 
one of their number to knock at her door in the hope 
that she would answer the first summons. Now to 
answer the iir.st summons of a Nereid meant madness. 
Of this the woman was fully aware ; and her cunning 
cheated them even of their revenge.' 

Sometimes these supernatural beings bestow gifts of a ^ 
more distinctly divine character than any of the fore- ■ 
going. A midwife in Strathspey, on one such occasion, was 
desired to ask what she would, and it should be granted 
if in the power of the fairies. She asked that success 
might attend herself and her posterity in all similar 
operations. The gift was conferred ; and her great- 
grandson still continued to exercise It when Mr. Stewart 
was collecting the materials for his work on the super- 
stitions of the Highlanders, published in 1823. In like 
manner the Mohel, to whose adventure I have already 
referred, and who was originally an avaricious man, 
received the grace of benevolence to the poor, which 
caused him to live a long and happy life with his family, 
a pattern unto the whole world. The gift was symbal-VKi 
^^ ' Bent, p. 46. 



56 THE SCIEKCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

by the restoration to him of his own bunch of keys, 
which he found with many others in the possession of 
his uncanny conductor. This personage had held the 
keys by virtue of his being lord over the hearts of those 
who never at any time do good : in other words, he 
the demon of covetousness. Here we have an instance, 
more or less conscious, of the tendency, so marked in 
Jewish literature, to parable. But the form of the 
parable bears striking testimony to its origin in a myth 
common to many races. The keys in particular probably 
indicate that the recompense at one time took the shape 
of a palladium. This is not at all uncommon in 
tales. The Countess Von Eanzau was once summoned 
from her castle of Breitenburg in Schleswig to the help 
of a dwarf-woman, and in return received, according to 
one account, a large piece Of gold to be made into fifty 
counters, a herring and two spindles, upon the preser- 
vation of which the fortunes of the family wen 
depend. The gifts are variously stated in different 
versions of the tale, but all the versions agree in attaching 
to them blessings on the noble house of Ranzau so long 
as they were kept in the family. The Frau Von Hahnen, 
in a Bohemian legend, receives for her services to a 
water-nix three pieces of gold, with the injunction to 
take care of them, and never to let them go out of the 
hands of her own lineage, else the whole family would 
fall into poverty. She bequeathed the treasures to her 
three sons ; but the youngest son took a wife, who with 
a light heart gave the fairy gold away. Misery, of 
course, resulted from her folly ; and the race of Hahnen 
speedily came to an end.' 

It is quite possible that the spoons bestowed by Vitra 
upon the clergyman's wife in Lappmark were once re- 
puted to be the subject of a similar proviso. So common, 

' Keightley, p. 388, clling Stewart ; Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 50 d seq., 
quoting MiillenhofF !in<1 Thiele ; Grohmann, p. 145 ; si;e also Thorpe, 
vol. Hi, p. ^i, I 



FAIRY BIKTHS AND HUMAK MIDWIVES. 



I forsooth, was the stipulation, that in one way or other il 
was annexed to well-nigh all fairy gifts : they brought 
luck to their possessor for the time being. Examples of 
this are endless : one only will content us in this con- 
nection ; and, like Vitra's gift, we shall find it in Swedish 
Lappmark. A peasant who had one day been unlucky 
at the chase, was returning disgusted, when he met a fine 
gentleman who begged him to come and cure his wife. 
^^ The peasant protested in vain that he was not a doctor. 
^L The other would take no denial, insisting that it was no 
^H matter, for if he would only put his hands upon the lady 
^H she would be healed. Accordingly the stranger led him 
^H to the very top of a mountain, where was perched a 
^H castle he had never seen before. On entering it he 
^V found the walls were mirrors, the roof overhead of silver, 
the carpets of gold-embroidered silk, and the furniture of 
the purest gold and jewels. The stranger took him into 
a room where lay the loveliest of princesses on a golden 

»bed, screaming with pain. As soon as she saw the 
peasant she begged him to come and put his hands upon 
her. Almost stupified with astonishment he hesitated to 
lay his coarse hands upon so fair a dame. But at length 
he yielded ; and in a moment her pain ceased, and she 
was made whole. She stood up and thanked him, 
begging him to tarry awhile and eat with them. This, 
however, he declined to do, for he feared that if he 
tasted the food which was offered him he must remain 
there. The stranger whom he had followed then took 
a leathern purse, filled it with small round pieces of 
wood, and gave it to the peasant with these words : " So 
I long as thou art in possession of this purse money will 
never fail thee. But if thou shouldst ever see me again, 
beware of speaking to me ; for if thou speak thy luck 
I will depart." When the man got home he found the 
purse filled with dollars ; and by virtue of its magical 
I property he became the richest man in the parish. As 
Leoon as he found the purse always iul\, w\\a.^.evM >aK. \.w^ 



S8 THE SCIENCE OP FAIRY TALES. 

out of it, he began to live in a spendthrift manner and 
frequented the ale-house. One evening as he sat there 
he beheld the stranger with a bottle in his hand going 
round and gathering the drops which the guests shook 
from time to time out of their glasses. The rich peasant 
was surprised that one who had given him so much did 
not seem able to buy himself a single dram, but was 
reduced to this means of getting a drink. Thereupon he 
went up to him and said : " Thou hast shown me more 
kindness than any other man ever did, and I will 
willingly treat thee to a little." The words were scarce 
out of his mouth when he received such a blow on his 
head that he fell stunned to the ground ; and when 
again he came to himself the stranger and his purse 
were both gone. From that day forward he became 
poorer and poorer, until he was reduced to absolute 
beggary.' 

This story exemplifies every point that has has in- 
terested us in this discussion : the need of the Trolls for 
human help, the refusal of food, fairy gratitude, and the 
conditions involved in the acceptance of supernatural 
gifts. It mentions one further characteristic of fairy 
nature — the objection to be recognized and addressed by 
men who are privileged to see them. But the considera- 
tion of this requires another chapter. 

* Poestion, p. 119, 



CHAPTER IV. 

FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES {cOJltinuea). 

The magical ointment — Human prying punished by fairies, and by 
other supernatural beings — Dame Berchta — Hertha — Lady 
Godiva — Analogous stories in Europe — In the East — Religious j 
ceremonies performed by women only — Lady Godiva a pagan / 
goddess. 

Before we quit the subject of fairy births, we have a 
few more stories to discuss. They resemble in their 
general tenor those already noticed ; but instead of 
one or other of the incidents considered in the previous 
chapter we are led to a different catastrophe by the ^ 
introduction of a new incident — that of the Magical 
Ointment. The plot no longer hinges upon fairy ^ 
gratitude, but upon human curiosity and disobedience. -« 'x 

The typical tale is told, and exceedingly well told — 
though, alas ! not exactly in the language of the natives 
— by Mrs. Bray in her Letters to Sou they, of a certain 
midwife of Tavistock. One midnight, as she was getting 
into bed, this good woman was summoned by a strange, 
squint-eyed, little, ugly old fellow to follow him straight- 
way, and attend upon his wife. In spite of her in- 
stinctive repulsion she could not resist the command ; 
and in a moment the little man whisked her, with 
himself, upon a large coal-black horse with eyes of fire, 
which stood waiting at the door. Ere long she found 
herself at the door of a neat cottage ; the patient was a 
decent-looking woman who already had two children, 
and all things were prepared for Ker v\?aX. N^\v<^\\ 'Cwi 



6o 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES, 



child — a fine, bouncing babe — was born, its mother gave 
the midwife some ointment, with directions to " strike 
the child's eyes with it." Now the word strike in the 
Devonshire dialect means not to give a blow, but to rub, 
or touch, gently ; and as the woman obeyed she thought 
the task an odd one, and in her curiosity tried the effect 
of the ointment upon one of her own eyes. At once a 
change was wrought in the appearance of everything 
around her. The new mother appeared no longer as a 
homely cottager, but a beautiful lady attired in white ; 
the babe, fairer than before, but still witnessing with the 
elvish cast of its eye to its paternity, was wrapped in 
swaddling clothes of silvery gauze ; while the elder 
children, who sat on either side of the bed, were 
transformed into fiat-nosed imps, who with mops and 
mows were busied to no end in scratching their own 
polls, or in pulling the fairy lady's ears with their long 
and hairy paws. The nurse, discreetly silent about 
what she had done and the wonderful metamorphoses 
she beheld around her, got away from the house of 
enchantment as quickly as she coidd ; and the sour- 
looking old fellow who had brought her carried her back 
on his steed much faster than they had come. But the 
next market-day, when she sallied forth to sell her eggs, 
whom should she see but the same ill-looking scoundrel 
busied in pilfering sundry articles from stall to stall. 
So she went up to him, and with a nonchalant air 
addressed him, inquiring after his wife and child, who, 
she hoped, were both as well as could be expected. 
" What ! " exclaimed the old pixy thief, " do you see me 
to-day ? " " See you ! to be sure I do, as plain as I see 
the sun in the skies ; and I see you are busy into the 
bargain," she replied. "Do you so? "cried he; "pray, 
with which eye do you see all this ? " " With the right 
eye, to be sure." "The ointment! the ointment I " 
exclaimed the old fellow ; " take that for meddling with 
what didnot bdong to you ; you shall see me no more." 



I FAIKV BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVLS. 6l 

I He Struck her eye as he spoke, and from that hour till 
I the day of her death she was blind on the right side, 
I thus dearly paying for having gratified an idle curiosity 
l-.in the house of a pixy.' 

I In this tale the midwife acquired her supernatural 
I vision through gratifying her curiosity ; but perhaps in 
Lthe larger number of instances it is acquired by accident. 
L Her eye smarts or itches ; and without thinking, she rubs 
I it with a finger covered with the Magical Ointment. In 
I a Breton variant, however, a certain stone, perfectly 
I polished, and in the form of an egg, is given to the 
I woman to rub the fairy child's eyes. In order to test 
I its virtue she applies it to her own right eye, thus 
I obtaining the faculty of seeing the elves when they 
f rendered themselves invisible to ordinary sight. Some-r, 
I times, moreover, the eye-salve is expressly given for the/ 
I purpose of being used by the nurse upon her own eyes.\ 
I This was the case with a doctor who, in a north country 
I tale, was presented with one kind of ointment before he 
I entered the fairy realm and another when he left it. 
I The former gave him to behold a splendid portico in the 
I side of a steep hill, through which he passed into the 
I fairies' hall within ; but on anointing one eye with the 
I latter ointment, to that eye the hill seemed restored to 
F its natural shape. Similarly in Nithsdale a fairy rewards 
the kindness of a young mother, to whom she had 
I committed her babe to suckle, by taking her on a Msit 
[ to Fairyland. A door opened in a green hillside, dis- 
I closing a porch which the nurse and her conductor 
I entered. There the lady dropped three drops of a 
I precious dew on the nurse's left eyelid, and they were 
I admitted to a beautiful land watered ivith meandering 
I rivulets and yellow with corn, where the trees were laden 
I with fruits which dropped honey. The nurse was here 
I presented with magical gifts, and when a green dew had 
E baptized her right eye she was enabled to behold furthet 
^H ' Ma. Bray, voUL p. 174, 



62 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

wonders. On returning, the ' fairy passed her hand over 
the woman*s eye and restored its normal powers ; but 
the woman had sufficient address to secure the wonder- 
working bahn. By its means she retained for many 
years the gift of discerning the earth-visiting spirits ; 
but on one occasion, happening to meet the fairy lady 
who had given her the child, she attempted to shake 
hands with her. " What ee d' ye see me wi* ?" whispered 
she. "Wi^ them baith," answered the matron. The 
fairy accordingly breathed on her eyes ; and even the 
power of the box failed afterwards to restore their 
enchanted vision. A Carnarvonshire story, probably 
incomplete, makes no mention of the ointment con- 
ferring supernatural sight ; but when the midwife is to 
be dismissed she is told to rub her eyes with a certain 
salve, whereupon she at once finds herself sitting on a 
tuft of rushes, and not in a palace : baby and all had 
disappeared. The sequel, however, shows that by some 
means she had retained the power of seeing fairies, at 
least wuth one eye ; for when she next went to the town, 
lo and behold ! busily buying was the elf whose wife she 
had attended. He betrayed the usual annoyance at 
being noticed by the woman ; and on learning with which 
eye she saw him he vanished, never more to be looked 
upon by her. A tale from Guernsey attributes the 
magical faculty to some of the child^s saliva which fell 
into the nurse's eye. And a still more extraordinary 
cause is assigned to it in a tradition from Lower Brittany, 
where it is said to be due to the sacred bond formed 
between the woman and a masculine elf when she 
became godmother and he godfather to the babe.* 

The effect of the wonder-working salve or water is 
differently described in different tales. The fairy maiden 

' " Revue Celtique," vol. i. p. 231 ; Keightley, p. 312, citing ** The 
Local Historian's Table-Book," by M. A. Richardson. Cromek, p. 
242; **Y Cymmrodor," vol. iv. p. 209; "Revue des Trad. Pop," 
voL Hi. p, 426 ; "Revue Celtique," vol. i. p. 232. 



r 



FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVF.S. 63 

Rockflower speaks of it to her lover, in. a Breton tale 

from Saint Cast, as "clearing his eyes like her own." 

And this is evidently to be understood in a!! cases.' 

Accordingly, we find the invariable result is that the 

favoured mortal beholds a warms of fairies who were 

, invisible before. But their dwelhngs, their clothing, and 

their surroundings in general suffer a transformation by 

no means ahvays the same. A hovel or a cavern becomes 

a palace, whose inhabitants, however ugly they may be, 

are attired like princesses and courtiers, and are served 

vith vessels of silver and gold. On the other hand a 

i castle is changed by the magical balm into "a big rough 

I cave, with water oozing over the edges of the stones, and 

I through the clay ; and the lady, and the lord, and the 

I child, weazened, poverty- bit ten crathurs— nothing but 

skin and bone, and the rich dresses were old rags." 

L This is an Irish picture ; but in the north of England 

much the same. Instead of a neat cottage the 

midwife perceives the large overhanging branches of an 

ancient oak, whose hollow and moss-grown trunk she 

had before mistaken for the fireplace, where glow-worms 

supplied the place of lamps. And in North Wales, 

I when Mrs. Gamp incautiously rubbed an itching eye 

I with the finger she had used to rub the baby's eyes, 

I "then she saw with that eye that the wife lay on a 

bundle of rushes and withered ferns, in a large cave of 

[ big stones all round her, with a little fire in one corner 

( of it ; and she also saw that the lady was only Eilian, 

' her former servant-girl, whilst with the other eye she 

I beheld the finest place she had ever seen," More terrible 

I still, in another story, evidently influenced by the Welsh 

iMethodist revival, the unhappy woman beheld "herself 

■ surrounded by fearful flames; the ladies and gentlemen 

■looked like devils, and the children appeared like the 

fmost hideous imps of hell, though with the other parts 

[ of her eyes all looked " grand and beautiful as before."' 

^ t S^lallot, "Conies," vol. ii. p. 34; " Revue ilesTtaili.TQ?." NoViia. 



64 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

However disturbing these visions may have been, the 
nurse was generally discreet enough to maintain perfect 
silence upon them until she got back to the safety 
of her own home. But it is not very surprising if her 
tongue sometimes got the better of her, as in a story 
obtained by Professor Rhys at Ystrad Meurig. There 
the heroine said to the elf-lady in the evening, as she was 
dressing the infant : " You have had a great many visitors 
today." To this the lady sharply replied : " How do 
you know that ? Have you been putting the ointment 
to your eyes ? " Thereupon she jumped out of bed, and 
blew into her eyes, saying : " Now you will see no more." 
The woman could never afterwards see the fairies, nor 
was the ointment entrusted to her again. So in the 
Cornish tale of Cherry of Zennor, that young damsel, 
being hired by a fairy widower to keep house for him, 
has the assurance to fall in love with him. She touches 
her own eyes with the unguent kept for anointing the 
eyes of her master's little boy, and in consequence 
catches her master kissing a lovely lady. When he next 
attempts to kiss Cherry herself she slaps his face, and, 
mad with jealousy, lets slip the secret. No fairy widower 
with any self-respect could put up with such conduct as 
this ; and Cherry has to quit Fairyland. Her parents had 
supposed her dead ; and when she returned they believed 
at first it was her ghost. Indeed, it is said she was never 
afterwards right in her head ; and on moonlight nights, 
until she died, she would wander on to the Lady Downs 
to look for her master.^ 

The earliest writer who mentions a story of this type 

p. 428 ; S^billot, " Litt. Orale," p. 21 ; Kennedy, p. 106 ; 
Keightley, p. 311; **Y Cymmrodor," vol. vi. p. 166; Wirt Sikes, 
p. 87. This story purports to be quoted from Howells, p. 349 — an 
impossible reference, seeing that the volume in question only con- 
tains 194 pages. The peculiarities of Mr. Sikes' authorities, however, 
need very little comment. 

Y Cymmrodor,^^ vol. vi. p. 194 ; Hunt, p. 120. 



I *t 



FAIRV BIRTHS AND HUMAN MlOWiVES. 65 

^ Gefvase of Tilbury, marshal of the kingdom of Aries, 

iirho wrote about the beginning of the thirteenth century. 

e professes to have himself met with a woman of Aries 

I who was one day washing clothes on the banks of the 

, when a wooden bowl floated by her. In trying 

Ito catch it, she got out of her depth and was seized by a 

Jprac. The Dracs were beings who haunted the waters of 

s and dwelt in the deep pools, appearing often on 

fthe banks and in the towns in human form. The woman 

in question was carried down beneath the stream, and, 

like Cherry of Zennor, made nurse to her captor's son. 

One day the Drac gave her an eel pasty to eat. Her 

fingers became greasy with the fat ; and she happened to 

put them to one of her eyes. Forthwith she acquired a 

clear and distinct vision under the water. After some 

years she was allowed to return to her husband and 

family ; and going early one morning to the market-place 

of Beaucaire, she met the Drac. Recognizing him at 

once, she saluted him and asked after the health of his 

wife and child. "With which eye do you sec me?" 

inquired the Drac. The woman pointed to the eye she 

. had touched with the eel-fat ; and thrusting his finger 

jinto it, the Drac vanished from sight.' ^. 

The only punishment suffered in these cases is the 
I deprivation of the power of seeing fairies, or banishment 
I from their society. This seems mild enough : much i 
Lmore was generally inflicted. The story first quoted ' 
I relates what seems to be the ordinary form of vengeance 
I for disregard of the prohibition to use the fairy eye-salve, 
I namely, loss of sight in the offending eye. Spitting or 
Lstriking is usually the means adopted by the elves to 
rffect this end. Sometimes, however, the eye is torn 
3 its socket. Whether there is much to choose be- 
;n these different ways of undergoing the punishment 
s doubtful ; but it should be noted that the last-nien- 
[ tioned mode is a favourite one in Brittany, and follows 
' Gcrv. Tilb, Dec. iii. c, 85. 



66 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

not SO much on recognition as on denunciation by the 
virtuous mortal of the elf's thieving propensities. " See 
what thieves these fairies are ! " cried a woman who 
watched one of them putting her hand into the pocket of 
a country woman's apron. The fairy instantly turned 
round and tore out her eye. " Thieves ! " bawled another 
on a similar occasion, with the same result. In a Cornish 
tale a woman is entrusted in her own house with the care 
of an elf-child. The child brought remarkable prosperity 
to the house, and his foster-mother grew very fond of 
him. Finding that a certain water in which she was 
required to wash his face made it very bright, she deter- 
mined to try it on her own, and splashed some of it into 
her eye. This conferred the gift of seeing the little 
people, who played with her boy, but had hitherto been 
invisible to her ; and one day she was surprised to meet 
her nursling's father in the market — stealing. Recog- 
nition followed, and the stranger exclaimed : 

** Water for elf, not water for self, 
You've lost your eye, your child, and yourself.'* 

From that hour she was blind in the right eye. When 
she got home the boy was gone ; and she and her 
husband, who had once been so happy, became poor and 
wretched.' 

Here poverty and wretchedness, as well as the loss of 
an eye, were inflicted. In a Northumbrian case the 
foster-parent lost his charge and both eyes. So in a story 
from Guernsey, the midwife, on the Saturday following 
her attendance on the lady, meets the husband and father 
in a shop filling his basket to right and left. She at once 

' Sebillot, ** Contes," vol. ii. p. 42 ; ** Litt. Orale,"p. 23 ; "Trad, et 
Super." p. 109. Cut in these cases the operation was performed pain- 
lessly enough, for the victims were unaware of their loss until they came 
to look in the glass. In one of Prof. Rhys' stories the eye is pricked 
with a green rush ; ** Y Cymmrodor," vol. vi. p. 178 ; Hunt^ p. 83. See 
niso Sebillot, ** Conies,''^ vol, i. p. 119. 



FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVKS. 67 

iomprehends the plenty that reigned in his mysterious 

towelling, "Ah, you wicked thief, I sec you ! " she cried. 

T*Vou see me; how?" he inquired. "With my eyes," 

; replied. " In that case I will soon put you out of 

tower to play the spy," he answered. So saying, he spat 

1 her face, and she became blind on the spot. A Danisli 

llAory also relates that a midwife, who had inadvertently 

ointed her eyes with the salve handed to her by the 

J^-folk for the usual purpose, was going home afterwards 

sed by a rye-field. The field was swarming with 

Belves, who were busy clipping off the ears of rye. Indig- 

lantly she cried out : " What are you doing there ? " 

^The httle pei>ple thronged round her, and angrily 

mswered ; " If thou canst see us, thus shalt thou be 

taerved ; " and suiting the action to the word, they put 

■qut her eyes.' 

Human beings, however, betray their meddling with ."^ 

Hairy ointment in other ways than by speech. The fol-{ 

lowing curious story was related as current at his native 

place, by Dr. Carre of St. Jacut-de-la-Mcr, to M. Sebillot. 

A fisherman from St. Jacut was the last to return one 

)■ evening at dusk from the scene of his labours ; and as he 

■"walked along the wet sand of the seashore, he suddenly 

jcame upon a number of sea-fairies in a cavern, talking and 

Bijgesticulating with vivacity, though he could not hear 

. they said. He beheld them rub their eyes and 

xjdies with a sort of pomade, when, lo 1 their appearance 

ged, and they were enabled to walk away in the 

: of ordinary women. Hiding carefully behind a 

brge rock, he watched them out of sight ; and then, im- 

feelled by curiosity, he made straight for the cave. There 

e found what was left of the pomade, and taking a little 

I his finger, he smeared it around his left eye. By this 

' Keightlfy, ]i. 310 ; " Kevuc ties Tio.il. i'op." wol. iii. p. 426 ; 
pe, vol. ii. ]i. 129, quoting ThielB. In anolher Danish lale 
OD the SLiae page, the woman's blinda»s is atlrilitited to bsi 
£ divulged what she had seen in Fairj'lfinil . 



68 THE SCIENCE Of FAISV TaLES. 

means he found himself able to penetrate the various i 
disguises assumed by the fairies for the purpose of robbing 
or annoying mankind. He recognized as one of that 
mischievous race a beggar-woman whom he saw a few 
days afterwards going from door to door demandin 
charity. He saw her casting spells on certain houses, and 
peering eagerly into all, as if she were seeking for si 
thing to steal. He distinguished, too, when out in his 
boat, fish which were real fish from fish which wi 
reality "ladies of the sea," employed in entangling the 
nets and playing other tricks upon the seamen. Attendin 
the fair of Ploubalay, he saiv several elves who had a; 
sumed the shapes of fortune-tellers, showmen, or gamblers, 
to deceive the country folk ; and this permitted him to 
keep clear of their temptations. But as he smiled to 
himself at what was going on around him, some of the 
elves, who were exhibiting themselves on a platform in 
front of one of the booths, caught sight of him ; and he 
saw by the anger in their looks that they had divined his 
secret. Before he had time to fly, one of them, with the 
rapidity of an arrow, struck his clairvoyant eye with a 
stick and burst it. That is what happened to him who 
would learn the secrets of the sea-fairies." 

Such was the punishment of curiosity ; nor is it by 
fairies alone that curiosity is punished. Cranmere Pool 
on Dartmoor is, we are told, a great penal settlement for 
refractory spirits. Many of the former inhabitants of the 
parish are supposed to be still there expiating their 
ghostly pranks. Of the spirit of one old farmer it is 
related that it took seven clergymen to secure him. 
They, however, succeeded at last in transforming him into 
a colt, which was given in charge to a servant-boy with i 
directions to take him to Cranmere Pool, and there on 
the brink of the pool to shp off the halter and return j 
instantly without looking round. He did look round, in j 
spite of the warning, and beheld the colt in the form of a ^ 
' Seliillol, " L-U. Ocalc," u. 24, J 



FA1RV EIRTHS AND HUMAM MtDWIVES. 6g 

I ball of fire jilungc into the water. But as the mysterious " 
I beast plunged he gave the lad a parting kick, which 
I knocked out one of his eyes, just as the Calender was 
I deprived of his eye in the " Arabian Nights." Still worse 
s the fate that overtook a woman, who, at midnight on 
■ New Year's Eve, when all water i.s turned into wine, was 
I foolhardy enough to go to a well. As she bent over it to 
I draw, one came and plucked out her eye, saying : 



B A variant of the story relates that the woman herself 
I disappeared, and gives the rhyme as 

And what i^ Ihereby is mine." ' 

At the end of the last chapter wc noted as a charac- 
Iteristic of fairy nature the objection to be recognized and 
■addressed by men who are privileged to see them. We 
now able to carry the generalization a step further. 
■| from the instances adduced in the foregoing pages. 
Kit is obviously a common belief that supernatural per- 
sonages, without distinction, dislike not merely being 
Krecognized and addressed, but even being seen, or at all 
Jfevents being watched, and are only willing to be mani- 
pFested to humanity at their own pleasure and for their 
1 purposes. In the stories of the Magical Ointment it 
Wis not so much the theft as the contravention of the 
EmpliciC prohibition against prying into fairy business 
Khat rouses elfin anger. This will appear more clearly 
n the fuller consideration of cases like those mentioned 
the last paragraph, in which punishment follows 
directly upon the act of spying. In Northamptonshire, 

" Choice Notts," p. 170; Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 8. The Jailer form 
»f the story seems more usua!. See Gredt, pp. 28, 29. where we Mt 
inl^ to!(l that the hapless moilals gre fctcheil awa^ \fj \.^e 4.^V\\, 



7© THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

we learn that a man whose house was frequented by 
fairies, and who had received many favours from them, 
became smitten with a violent desire to behold his invisible 
benefactors. Accordingly, he one night stationed himself 
behind a knot in the door which divided the living-room 
of his cottage from the sleeping-apartment. True to 
their custom, the elves came to disport themselves on his 
carefully-swept hearth, and to render to the household 
their usual good offices. But no sooner had the man 
glanced upon them than he became blind ; and so pro- 
voked were the fairies at this breach of hospitality that 
they deserted his dwelling, and never more returned to 
it. In Southern Germany and Switzerland, a mysterious 
lady known as Dame Berchta is reputed to be abroad on 
Twelfth Night. She is admittedly the relic of a heathen 
goddess, one of whose attributes was to be a leader of the 
souls of the dead ; and as such she is followed by a band of 
children. For her the peasants on Twelfth Night set a 
repast, of which, if she be pleased, she and her troop 
partake. A servant boy at a peasant's farm in the Tirol 
on one such occasion perceived Lady Berchta's approach, 
and hid himself behind the kneading-trough to watch 
what she would do. She immediately became aware of 
his presence as he peeped through a chink, and called to 
one of her children to go and stop that chink. The child 
went and blew into it, and the boy became stark-blind. 
Thus he continued for a year, nor could any doctor help 
him, until an old experienced man advised him to go to the 
same place on the following Twelfth-tide, and falling down 
on his knees behind the kneading-trough, to bewail his 
curiosity. He accordingly did so. Dame Berchta came 
again, and taking pity on him, commanded one of her 
children to restore his sight. The child went and blew 
once more through the chink, and the boy saw. Berchta, 
however, and her weird troop he saw not ; but the food 
set out for them had disappeared.' 
' Sternbergf p. 132 (see also Thorpe, voV. \\. ^. 12V, Vq^ Al^en- 



FAIRV BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIOWIVLS. 7I 

The tradition of the goddess Hertha Itngcrc-d until 
recently, and perchance lingers still, in the island of 
Rugen. She had her dwelling, it is believed, in [Jie 
Herthaburg ; and often yet, in the clear moonlight, out 
of the forest which enfolds that hill, a fair lady corner 
surrounded by her maids to bathe in the lake at its foot. 
After awhile they emerge from the waters, and, wrapt 
again in their long white veils, they vanish flickering 
among the trees. But to the belated wanderer, if any 
such there be, who looks upon tliis scene, it is a vision of 
dread ; for he is drawn by irresistible might to the lake 
wherein the white lady is bathing, to be swallowed up in 
its depths. And it is said that every year the lady must 
lure one unhappy mortal into the flood. So in the classic 
mythology, if Ovid report aright, ActKOn met the fearful 
jfate of transformation into a stag by "gazing on divinity 
disrobed," and was torn in pieces by his own hounds. 
Hertha was, indeed, according to Tacitus, more terrible 
than Diana, since death was the penalty even when duty 
called her slaves to the awful sight." 

These traditions have led us away from the Magical 
Ointment, which thus appears to be only one aspect of the 
larger theme of the objection on the part of supernatural 
beings to human prying. Nor need we regret having 
strayed ; for we are brought naturally to one of the most 
, interesting of our national legends, namely, that of Lady 
Godiva ; and it will well repay a little consideration. As 
generally told today it bears an unmistakable resemblance 
to the foregoing stories ; but there seems some difficulty 
^ in classing it with them, because Peeping Tom is wanting 
in the most ancient version known to us. 

Godiva, properly Godgifu, was an undoubted historical 

burg, p. 63. See a similar slciry in Giimm, " Tuul. Mylli." p- 376, 
from Homer, "Folk-lales of tht Orlagau." In thelalttr cast, liuwevtr, 
ihe panishment seeins to have been infiicled for jeering. 

' Jahn, p. 177, qiTOting Temme, "Volkssngen "; Ovid, " Melnm." 
I. iii. fob. 3; Tacitus, "Germ." c. 40. 



i 



7Z THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

personage, the wife of Leofric, Earl of the Mercians, and 
mother of the Earls Morcar and Edwin, and of Editfa, 
wife first of GrufFydd, Prince of North Wales, and after- 
wards of King Harold the Second. The earliest mention 
' of her famous ride through Coventry is by Roger of 
Wendovcr, who wrote in the beginning of the thirteenth 
century, or a hundred and fifty years or thereabout after 
her death. His account of the matter is as follows : 
"The countess Godiva, who was a great lover of God's 
mother, longing to free tlie town of Coventry from the 
oppression of a heavy toll, often with urgent prayers 
besought her husband, that from regard to Jesus Christ 

' and His mother, he would free the town from that service, 
and from all other heavy burdens ; and when the earl 
sharply rebuked her for foolishly asking what was so 
much to his damage, and always forbade her evermore 
to speak to him on the subject ; and while she, on the 
other hand, with a woman's pertinacity, never ceased to 

icxaspcrale her husband on that matter, he at last made 
her this answer; 'Mount yottr horse, and ride naked 
before all the people, through the market of the town 
from one end to the other, and on your return you shall 
have your request.' On which Godiva replied : ' But will 
you give me permission if I am willing to do it ? ' 'I 
will,' said he. Whereupon the countess, beloved of God, 
loosed her hair and let down her tresses, which covered 
the whole of her body like a veil, and then mounting her 
horse and attended by two knights, she rode through the 
market place without being seen, except her fair legs ; 
and having completed the journey, she returned with 
gladness to her astonished husband, and obtained of him 
what she had asked, for Earl Leofric freed the town of 
Coventry and its inhabitants from the aforesaid service, 
and confirmed what he had done by a charter." ' 
According to the more modern version, the inhabitants 
' Roger of Wcndover, " Floivets of IlUlorj-," sub anno ID57. I 
quote froTn Pr. Giles' iranslnlion. 



FAIBV UlRTHS AND HUMAN MlDWiVES. 73 

were enjoined to remain within doors, and, in the 
Laureate's words : 

1 " one low chuil, compact of ihankleas earth. 

The fatal t^word of all years lo come, 

Boiing a linle auger-hole in fcnr, 

Peep'd — bul his eyes, before Ihey had Iht-it will. 

Were shrivell'd into darliiieES in his head. 

And dropt before birri. So the powers who wait 

On noble deeds, cancell'd a sense misiis'd." 

It is not my business now to prove that the legend is 
untrue in fact, or I should insist, first, that its omission 
,by previous writers, who refer both to Leofric and Godgifu 
and their various good deeds, is strong negative testimony 
against it ; and I should show, from a calculation made 
by the late Mr. M. H. Bloxam, and founded on the record 
of Domesday Book, that the population of Coventry in 
, Leofric's time could scarcely have exceeded three hundred 
and fifty souls, all in a greater or less dtgree of servitude, 
and dwelling probably in \vooden hovels each of a single 
story, with a door, but no window.' There was, there- 
,fore, no market on the scale contemplated by Roger of 
Wendover, — hardly, indeed, a town through which 
Godgifu could have ridden ; and a mere toll would have 
.been a matter of small moment when the people were all 
serfs. The talc, in short, in the form given by the 
chronicler, could not have been told until after Coventry 
■had risen to wealth and importance by means of its 
monastery, ivhereof Godgifu and her husband were the 
founders. Nobody, however, now asserts that Roger 
of Wendover's narrative is to be taken seriously." , 
What therefore I want to point out in it is that I 
Godgifu's bargain was that she should ride naked 
■before all the people. And this is what the historian 
[ understands her to have done ; for he states that she rode 

the W'iirwicksliite N^kiraliats' and 



74 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 

through the market-place without being seen, except her 
fair IcgSf all the rest of her body being covered by her 
hair like a veil. He tells us nothing about a proclama- 
tion to the inhabitants to keep within doors ; and of 
course Peeping Tom is an impossibility in this version of 
the tale, 

Coventry has for generations honoured its benefactress 
by a periodical procession, wherein she is represented by 
a girl dressed as nearly like the countess on her ride a 
the manners of the day have permitted. When this pro 
cession was first instituted, is unknown. The earliest 
mention of it seems to be in the year 1678. Its object 
then was to proclaim the Great Fair, and Lady Codiva 
was merely an incident in it. The Lansdowne MSS. i 
the British Museum contain an account of a visit 1 
Coventry by the "captain, lieutenant, and ancient'' 1 
the military company of Norwich, who travelled in t\ 
Midland Counties in August 1634. These tourists 
describe St. Mary's Hall as adorned at the upper end 
" with rich hangings, and all about with fayre pictures, c 
more especially of a noble lady (the Lady Godiva) whose 
memory they have cause not to forget, for that shee pur- 
chas'd and redeem'd their lost infringed liberties 
fh"eedomes, and obtained remission of heavy tributes 
impos'd upon them, by undertaking a hard and unseemly 
task, w'ch was to ride naked openly at high noonc day 
through the city on a milk-white steed, w'ch she willingly 
performed, according to her lord's strict injunction. It 
may be very well discussed heere whether his haired c 
her love exceeded. Her fayre long hayre did much offend 
the wanton's glancing eye." In this record we have r 
additional fact except the mention of "high noone day" 
as the time of the journey ; for the allusion to " the 
wanton's glancing eye " is too vague to be interpreted 
of Peeping Tom, and the writer does not refer to 
any commemorative procession. It has been supposed, 
therefore, that the carnival times of Charles the Second 



FAIKY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES, 7g 

I both begot the procession and tacked Peeping Tom 
I to the legend. But it is more likely that the pro- 
cession is as old as the fair, which was held under 
' a charter of Henry the Third, granted in 1217. Such 
pageants were not uncommon in mimicipal Hfe, 
and were everywhere to the taste of the people. 
Whether Lady Godiva was a primitive part of it is 
another question. The mention of the procession in 
} 1678 occurs in a manuscript volume of annals of the city, 
[ in a handwriting of the period. The entry in question 
is as follows : "31 May 167S beiiig the great Fair at 
Coventry there was an extraordinary "' [Here the 
bottom of the page is reached ; and in turning over the 
chronicler has omitted a word, for on the top of the next 
page we read:] "Divers of the Companies" [i.e., the 
I City Guilds] " set out each a follower, The Mayor Two, 
and the Sheriffs each one ami ? at the pubh'ck charge, 
there were divers Streamers with the Companies arms 
and Ja. Swinnertons Son represented Lady Godiva," ' 

This brief entry is by no means free from ambiguity. 
Perhaps all that we are warranted in inferring from it is 
that the annual procession was, that year, of unusual 
splendour. Whether, as has been conjectured, it was the 

' MS. marked D. This entry Is an inlerpolntion in 1 list of mayors 
and sheriffs in a different iwnd writing. There are several such inler- 
polalions in the volume. Coventry possesses a number of MS. volumes 
of annals, one nf which (sec below) seems lo date from the latter port 
of [he sixteenth century, and the rest from the latter part of the seven- 
teenth. In the MS. marked F. (considered liy Mr. W. G. Fretton, F.S.A., 
to be in the handwriting of John Tipper, uf Bablake, Coventry, a 
schoolmaslei and local antiquary at the end of the seventeenth and 
beginning of the eighteenth centuries), and also in the MS. in the 
British Museum (Additional MSS. 11,364), the entry nins sinn|ily:— 
"1678 Michaell Earle (Mercer) Mayor; Francis Clark, George 
Allalt, SherrilVs. This year y° severall Companies had new streamers, 

id attended y' Mayor lo proclaim y faiie, and each company cloathcd 
boy or two to augment y" show." The latter MS. elsewhere sijeaJts 
of the story of Godiva's ride as " cotnorA^ Vno'wti, aci -iesaN^i 
<le<I by the Mayor, Aldermen, atid -j" sevciaW cjiw^kW''^^" 



"1678 S 

tAllalt, Sh 
Me boy 
of the St 



76 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES 

first time Lady Godiva had ever made her appearance, 
there seems more doubt. Apart from any evidence, there 
is no improbability in supposing that she may have formed 
part of earlier processions ; though it may be that during 
the period of Puritan ascendency the show had been 
neglected and the lady in particular had been discoun- 
tenanced. If this be so, however, it is difficult to account 
for the manner in which her figure is referred to by 
the writer, unless there were some personal reason con- 
nected with James Swinnerton, or his son, undiscover- 
able by us at this distance of time. 

But whatever doubt may exist as to Godiva^s share 
in the early processions, there appears no less as to the 
episode of Peeping Tom. Looking out of an upper story 
of the King's Head, at the corner of Smithford Street, is 
an oaken figure called by the name of the notorious tailor. 
It is in reality a statue of a man in armour, dating no 
further back than the reign of Henry the Seventh j and, 
as a local antiquary notes, " to favour the posture of his 
leaning out of window, the arms have been cut off at the 
elbows." ' This statue, now generally believed to have 
been intended for St. George, could not have been thus 
appropriated and adapted to its present purpose until its 
original design had been forgotten and the incongruity of 
its costume passed unrecognized. This is said to have 
been in 1678, when a figure, identified with the one in 
question, was put up in Grey Friars Lane by Alderman 
Owen. 

It must not be overlooked that there may have been 
from the first more than one version of the legend, and 
that a version rejected by, or perhaps unknown to, Roger 
of Wendover and the writers who followed him may have 

' This statue used to be decked out on the occasion of the procession 

in the long peruke and neckcloth of the reign of Charles II. See T. 

Ward, " Collections for the Continuation of Dugdale's Antiquities of 

Warwickshire" (2 vols., fol. MS., Brit, Mus., Additional MSS., Nos. 

2^f26^, 2p,26^), vol ii. fol. 143. 




fairV births and human MIDWIVES, 77 

} always included the order to the inhabilants to keep 

within doors, of which Peeping Tom would secni to be 

; necessary accompaniment. Unfortunately, we liave 

\ no evidence on this point. The earliest record of such 

appears in one of the manuscript volumes 

already alluded to. It has not been hitherlo printed ; 

and it is so much at variance, alike with the legend 

preserved in the thirteenth century, and the poem of 

the nineteenth century, that I quote it entire; — -"The 

Franchisment and Freedome of Coventry was purchased 

in manner Following. Godiua the wife of Leofric Earle 

of Chester and Duke of March requesting of her Lord 

freedome for this That Towne, obtained the same upon 

condition that she should ride naked through the same ; 

who for the Love she bare to the Inhabitants thereof, 

and the perpetuall remembrance of her Great Affection 

thereunto, performed the same as FoUoweth. In the 

forenoone all householders were Commanded to keep in 

their Families shutting their doores and windows close 

whilst the Dutchess performed this good deed, which 

done she rode naked through the midst of the Towne, 

1 without any other Coverture save only her hair. But 

I about the midst of the Citty her horse neighed, whereat 

I one desirous to see the strange Case letl downe a Window, 

f and looked out, for which fact or for that the Horse did 

■ neigh, as the cause thereof. Though all the To\vne were 

Franchised, yet horses were not toll-free to this day."' 

The manuscript in which this passage occurs is copied 

from an older manuscript which appears to have been 

' MS. markuii E, Coventry, Eeventeenlh century. A cai'tful txami' 

ralion of tlie Innguage of Roger of W'enJover, Matlhuw i'aris, Jolin 

of Brompton, and Matthew of Weslminsler, shows tliat Roger of 

Weodovei's account is the source of the other three, Matthew Vntis 

I copying moat closely, and John ot Brompton most freely. John of 

~ rompton and Matthew of Wejlminsler omit the escort. Their state- 

ent as to Goiliva's being unseen refers lo the hair which covered her j 

d the latter informs us, with a touch or ihetoric, tliat Leofric re 



78 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

compiled in the sixteenth century. Unfortunately, how- 
ever, the latter is imperfect, a leaf having been torn 
out at this very point. We cannot, therefore, say with 
certainty that the account of the famous ride was ever 
comprised in it. But the expressions made use of imply 
that the windows were closed with shutters rather than 
glass, and that they were opened by letting down the 
shutters, which were either loose or affixed by a hinge 
to the bottom sills. It is a question exactly at what 
period glass came into general use for windows in the 
burgesses* houses at Coventry. Down almost to the 
middle of the fifteenth century all glass was imported ; 
and consequently it was not so common in the midlands 
as near the coast, especially the south-eastern coast. 
We shall probably be on the safe side if we assume that 
in the early years of the sixteenth century, at all events, 
the ordinary dwelling-house at Coventry was no longer 
destitute of this luxury. It would seem, therefore, that 
the story, in the form here given, cannot be later, and 
may be much earlier, than the latter years of the fifteenth 
century. 

Failing definite evidence to carry us back further, it 
becomes of importance to inquire whether there are 
any traditions in other places from which we may 
reason. In the *' History of Gloucestershire," printed 
by Samuel Rudder of Cirencester in 1779, we read 
that the parishioners of St. Briavels, hard by the 
Forest of Dean, ** have a custom of distributing yearly 
upon Whitsunday, after divine service, pieces of bread 
and cheese to the congregation at church, to defray 
the expenses of which every householder in the parish 
pays a penny to the churchwardens ; and this is said 
to be for the privilege of cutting and taking the wood 
in Hudnolls. The tradition is that the privilege was 
obtained of some Earl of Hereford, then lord of the 
Forest of Dean, at the instance of his lady, upon the 
same hard terms that Lady Godiva obtained the privi- 



I HUMAN MimVIVI 



79 



for the citizens of Coventry." It appears that 

ludder, while in the main accurately relating both 

lod tradition, has made the mistake of supposing 

lat the payment was made to the churchwardens, 

phereas it was in all probability made to the constable 

Kof the castle of St. Briavels as warden of the Forest of 

Dean, The custom is now in a late stage of decadence, 

and local inquiries have failed to elicit any further details 

throwing light on the point under consideration." 

^V I am not aware of any other European tradition that 

^Hpill bear comparison with that of Godiva, but Liebrecht 

^^klates that he remembers in his youth, about the year 

^B'Szo, in a German newspaper, a story according to which 

^Km countess frees her husband's subjects from a heavy 

^Rwnishment imposed by him. She undertakes to walk a 

certain course clad only in her shift, and she perforins it, 

but clad in a shift of iron." The condition is here eluded / 

rather than fulfilled ; and the point of the story is conse- '■ 

quently varied. It would be interesting to have the tale 

unearthed from the old newspaper, and to know where 

its scene was laid, and whether it was a genuine piece of, 

folklore. 

^L Eastern tales, however, furnish us repeatedly with 

^vjncidents in which a lady parades the streets of a city, 

^■.atnd during her progress all folk arc bidden to close their 

^■.diops and withdraw into their houses on pain of death. 

^»The example of the Princess Badroulboudour will occur 

^nto every reader of the " Arabian Nights." This, however, 

^H is by no means a solitary example. In the story of Kamar 

^^Al-Zaman and the Jeweller's Wife, one of the stories of 

^Vthe "Nights" rejected on moral grounds by Lane, but 

translated by Burton, a dervish relates that he chanced 

' Rudder, p. 307. The Rev. W. Taprell Allen, M.A., Vicar uf 

St. Briavels, has been kind enangh lo supply me willi Ihe correclirin 

from local inquiries and inlimate acquaintance with tlic li'adilLOnb and 

^flairs of HiepaiisliexLending over mnny ycais, Sec nlsii " C™i. Mag. 

b." (Manners and CiiKlom^), p. 230. 

' Liebrecht, p. 104. 



80 THE SCIIiNCE OF FAIRV TALES. I 

one Friday to enter the city of Bassorali, and found the I 
streeCa deserted. The shops were open ; but neither man I 
nor woman, girl nor boy, dog nor cat was to be seen^ I 
By and by he heard a sound of drums, and hiding him- I 
self in a cofFee-houst, he looked out through a crevice J 
and saw forty pairs of slave girls, with uncovered heads M 
and faces displayed, come walking through the market,.! 
and in their midst a lady riding unveiled and adorned ■ 
with gold and gems. In front of her was a damsel V 
bearing in baldric a great sword with haft of emerald and I 
tassels of jewel-encrusted gold. Pausing close to the I 
dervish, the lady said to her maidens : " I hear a noise of I 
somewhat within yonder shop ; so do ye search it, lest I 
haply there be one hidden there, with intent to enjoy a I 
look at us while we have our faces unveiled." Accord-! 
ingly they searched the shop opposite the coffee-house, I 
and brought forth a man. At the lady's command the I 
damsel with the sword smote off his head, and leaving I 
the corpse lying on the ground, the procession swept on. J 
It turned out that the lady was the wife of a jeweller tO'B 
whom the King of Bassorah was desirous of granting a I 
boon, and at her request the boon obtained was a procl»-J 
mation commanding that all the townsfolk should every J 
Friday enter the mosques two hours before the hour of ■ 
prayer, so that none might abide in the town, great or J 
small, unless they were in the mosques or in the houses I 
with the doors locked upon them ; but all the shops were I 
to be left open. Then the lady had permission to ride- 1 
ivith her slave-women through the heart of the town, I 
and none were to look on her from window or lattice j I 
and every one whom she found abroad she was at liberty fl 
to kill, A similar incident is related in the life of Kur-.l 
roglii, the robber-poet of Persia, where a beautiful princess I 
passes in state through the bazaars every Friday on her • 
way to the mosque, while all the men are banished.'* 
' Burlon, " Nifhls," vol. jx. p. 255 ; liution, "Supp. Kifiljls," vdL9 
ill. ji. 570 (Appendix lij Mr. W. A . Cloiiston). Kii/roglii flouiiihed lal 
(icMcoiidiiaJf of the seventeenth cenlui^, ■ 



FAIRV SiRTrtS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES. 8l 

Here, again, some one was of course found playing the 
spy. 

A version of the incident, which can be traced further 
back in literary form than either of the foregoing, occurs 
in the " Ardshi-Bordshi." This book is a Mongolian 
recension of a Sanskrit collection of stories concerning 
^.Vikramaditya, a monarch who, if he ever lived, seems to 
have flourished about the beginning of the Christian era. 
He was celebrated, like Solomon, for his wisdom and his 
might ; and his name became the centre of a vast accre- 
tion of legends. Some of these legends were translated 
into Mongolian late in the Middle Ages, and formed a 
small collection called after Ardshi-Bordshi, the nominal 
'hero. In the story to which I wish to direct attention, a 
certain king has a daughter bearing the name of Sunshine, 
of whom he was so jealous that if any one looked upon 
her his eyes were put out, and the man who entered her 
apartments had his legs broken. Naturally, the young 
lady got tired of being thus immured, and complained to 
her father that, as she had no opportunity of seeing man 
or beast, the time hung heavily on her hands ; and she 
begged him to let her go out on the fifteenth of the month 
and look about her. The king agreed to this ; but, the 
sly old rascal ! nothing was further from his intention 
than to gratify his daughter's longing for masculine 
converse. Wherefore he issued a decree that all objects 
. for sale were to be exposed openly to the view, all cattle 
to be left indoors, the men and women were to withdraw 
into their houses and close their doors and windows, and 
if any one came forth he should be severely punished. 
On the appointed day, Sunshine, surrounded by her^ 
ladies, and seated in a brand-new chariot, drove through 
the town, and viewed the merchandise and goods exposed 
for sale. The king had a minister, named Moon, who 
, could not restrain his curiosity ; and he peeped at her 
from a balcony. The princess, as he did so, caught sight 
of him and made signs to him, which v?ere mt^i^x^V^^ 

7 



82 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

by the penetration of his wife to be an invitation to meet 
her clandestinely. The wife hardly displayed what most 
ladies would deem "a proper spirit" in advising com- 
pliance ; and the consequence of taking that advice 
would have been serious trouble both to himself and to 
the princess, had it not been for the ready wit of the two 
women, who got over the difficulty by contriving an 
ingenious equivocation not unknown in other stories, by 
which the princess cleared herself and her lover on oath.' 
It is true that in these tales the lady who rides forth is 
not naked ; but to ride openly and unveiled would be 
thought almost as immodest in countries where' strict 
seclusion is imposed upon women. All these tales 
include the Peeping Tom incident ; and it appears, 
indeed, so obvious a corollary to the central thought of 
Lady Godiva^s adventure that it is hardly likely to have 
required centuries for its evolution. From some tra- 
ditions, however, it is absent. A story belonging to the 
Cinderella cycle, found at Smyrna, relates that when a 
certain king desired to marry his own daughter, the 
maiden, by the advice of her Fate, demanded as the 
price of compliance three magnificent dresses. Having 
obtained these, she asked permission to go unseen (like 
Badroulbadour) to the bath. The king, to gratify her, 
forbade his subjects on pain of death to open their shops 
or to show themselves in the streets while she passed by. 
She thus got an opportunity of escaping from the city, 
of which she did not fail to make use, — greatly, no doubt, 
to her unnatural father's disgust. An Indian tradition also 
tells us that the inhabitants of Chamba were under the 
necessity of digging a canal for irrigation, but when it 

' This story is edited by Jiilg in Mongolian and German (Innsbruck, 
1867). Miss Busk gives a free adaptation rather than a translation of 
the German version, ** Sagas," p. 315. Prof. De Gubernatis, "Zool. 
Myth." vol. i. p. 138, of course interprets it as a sun-myth — an inter- 
pretation to which the names Sunshine and Moon, and the date of the 
adventure (the fifteenth of the month), lend themselves. 



^H W: 

I 






I'AIEV BIRTUS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES. 83 

was dug, owing to the enchantments of an evil spirit, not 
a drop of water could be got to flow along its course, A 
magician at last found out that the spell could be dis- 
solved if the beautiful and virtuous young princess of 
Chamba would consent to traverse a given distance of 
the plain entirely naked, in full view of the populace, and 
to lose her head when the journey was accomplished. 
After much hesitation, her compassion triumphed over 
her shame ; and she undertook the task. But lo ! as she 
advanced, a thick hne of young trees arose lo right and 
left, completely hiding hi;r from cynical eyes. And the 
shady canal is shown today by the good people of 
Chamba as one of the most authentic monuments of their 
history.' 

So far the stories. Concerning which it must be f 
observed that they are evidence that the myth of Lady ) 
Godiva is widely diffused in the East, and that the spy ' 
is usually, though not always, part of the talc. The i 
Smymosan version must probably be thrown out of the 
reckoning. It is, as I have already mentioned, a variant 
of the Cinderella cycle. The problem of the plot is how 
to get the heroine unseen out of her father's clutches. 
This is commonly effected by the simple mechanism of 
a disguise and a uight escape. Other methods, I need 
ail, are, however, sometimes adopted ; and 
the excuse of going to the bath, with the order to the 
people to close their shops and keep within doors, ivould 
to reveal nothing more than the unconscious 
influence of Aladdin or some other of the Eastern stories. 
Throwing this out, then, as accidental, an overwhelming 
proportion of the analogues cited contains the spy. It 
would be dangerous to reason on the supposition that 
the proportions of all the Asiatic variants extant corre- 
spond with those of the variants cited ; but we are at 
liberty to assume that a large number, if not the majority, 
' Von Hahn, vol. ii. p. aaj j " Tout du Monde," vol. iL»i, ^. 'i\i. 




84 Me StifeNCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

comprise the incident of Peeping Tom. None of them 
was known in Europe until Galland published his trans- 
lation of the "Arabian Nights" in the year 1704 — 
upwards of two centuries later than the latest period at 
which the story as given in the Coventry manuscript 
can have come into existence. 

• But the stories, though they may go a little way to 
help us in regard to the incident of Peeping Tom, throw 
^no light on the origin of the legend, or of the procession. 
Let us therefore turn to one or two curious religious 
ceremonies, which may have some bearing upon it. 
A potent spell to bring rain was reported as actually 
practised during the Gorakhpur famine of 1873-4. 
It consisted of a gang of women stripping themselves 
perfectly naked, and going out by night to drag the 
plough across a field. The men were kept carefully 
out of the way, as it was believed that peeping by 
them would not only vitiate the spell, but bring 
trouble on the village. It would not be a long step 
from this belief to a story in which peeping was alleged 
to have taken place with disastrous effects, either to 
the village, or (by favour of the deities intended to be 
propitiated) to the culprit himself. At the festival of the 
local goddess in the village of Seriir, in the Southern 
Mahratta country, the third and fourth days are devoted 
to private offerings. Many women, we are told, on these 
idays walk naked to the temple in fulfilment of vows, 
" but they were covered with leaves and boughs of trees, 
and surrounded by their female relations and friends." ' 

The performance of religious rites by women alone, / 
when men are required under heavy penalties to absent / 
themselves, is, indeed, not very uncommon in savage life. [ 
Nor is it confined to savage life. When Rome was at the 
height of her civilization and her triumphs, the festival 
of the Bona Dea was rendered notorious by the divorce 

' "Panjab N. and Q."vol. iii. pp. 41, 115; "Journal Ethnol. Soc. 
LoDdon/' N.S., vol. i. p. 58, 



FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES. 85 

of Cassar'a wife and by legal proceedings against an 
aristocratic scoundrel, who, for the purposes of an intrigue 
with her, had violated tlie sacred ceremonies. The 

I Bona Dea, or Good Goddess, was a woodland deity, the 
daughter and wife of Faunus. Her worship had de- 
scended from a remote antiquity ; and her annual festival 
was held in the month of December, and was attended 
only by women. The matrons of the noblest families of 
Rome met by night in the house of the highest official of 
the state to perform the traditional ceremonies of the 
goddess, and to pray for the well-being of the Roman 
people. Only women, and those of the most unsullied 
character, were permitted to attend ; and the breach of 
this rule by Clodius, disguised in woman's garb, consti- 
tuted a heinous offence against the state, from the 
penalties of which he only escaped, if we may believe 
Cicero, by bribing the judges.' 
At the village of Southanii not far from Coventry, 

(another procession in honour of Godiva formerly took 
place. Very little is known about it now, save one 
singidar fact, namely, that there were two Godivas in 

'the cavalcade, and one of them was black. Southam was 
part of the property possessed by Eari Leofric ; and it 
has been suggested that this is enough to account for the 
commemoration of Godgifu. It would no doubt be an 
excellent reason for affixing her renowned name to a 
periodical ceremony already performed there. But it 
would hardly be a reason for commemorating her 
extortion of priviJeges in which the inhabitants of 
Southam did not share ; and it would leave the black 
lady unexplained. She may, indeed, have been a mere 
travesty, though the liypothcsis would be anything but 
free from difficulty. Here, again, if we have recourse to 
the comparison of ceremonies, we may obtain some light, 

' The inrormalion relaling lo the Bona Dea has been collccleii by 
I Preller, " Rom. Myth." vol. i. p. 398 ; and see the aulhorilies he h»s 



1 



r 



86 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 

Among the tribes of the Gold Coast of Africa the wives 
of men who have gone to war make a daily procession 

.through the town. They are stark naked, painted all 
over with white, and decorated with beads and charms. 
Any man who is found in the town is attacked and 
driven away. And on the occasion of a battle the women 
imitate the actions the men are thought to be performing, 
with guns, sticks, and knives. The Gold Coast is a long 
way off; but not only do black women there paint 
themselves white in their sacred rites, white women in 
Britain have painted themselves, if not black, at least a 
dark blue. Pliny records that both matrons and unmar- 
ried girls among the Britons in the first century of the 
Christian era were in the habit of staining themselves all 
over with the juice of the woad ; and he adds that, thus 
rivalling the swarthy hue of the Ethiopians, they go on 
these occasions in a state of nature. Wc are sometimes 
taught that when the English invaded Britain, the 
natives whom they found here were all driven out or 
massacred. There are, however, many reasons for doubt- 
ing that this wholesale destruction was as complete as 
has been imagined. The name of Coventry betrays in 
its termination a Celtic element ; and this could hardly 
have entered into it had there not been in the neigh- 
bourhood a considerable British -speaking population. 
What is more likely than that at Southam this popula- 
tion continued and preserved its customs, and that one 
of such customs was that very religious rite of which 
Pliny speaks ? Unhappily he tells us nothing about the 
rite itself, nor the deity in whose honour it was performed. 
But it would not involve a great stretch of fancy to 
suppose that in the black Fady of Southam we have a 
survival of the performance. It is not too much to say 
that this explanation would have the merit of being 
intelligible and adequate,' 

■ Ellis, p. 226 ; Pliny, " Nat. Hist." 1. x\n. c. I. For the infi 
malion as lo ihe ijrocession at Soulham I am iiiciebled to Mi. W. ' 

Frctton, who Ibrmerly lived tt 



! BIRTHS AND HrMAN MIDWIVES. 87 



I In all countries ceremonies of a special character are 
usually dramatic. They represent, or are believed to 
represent, actions of the divinities in whose honour they 
are performed. The rites of the Bona Dea, we know, 
were of this kind ; and they consequently Jegenerated 
into orgies of a shameful character. The Coventry pro- 
cession is admittedly a representation of Godgifu's ride. 
It is not now, nor has it been so long as we have any 
records of it — that is to say for two hundred years — con- 
nected with any professed act of worship ; but this is not 
incompatible with its being the long-descended relic of 
some such observance as those I have described. The 
, introduction of Christianity did not annihilate the older 
cults. The new religion incorporated some of them ; and 
although the rest were no longer regarded as sacred, 

I the feeling of obligation remained attached to them for 
centuries. They were secularized, and ultimately de- 
graded for the most part into burlesque. Suth as were 
connected with municipal life, or, as we shall see in a 
future chapter, with family life, retained a measure of 
solemnity long after it had passed away from rites which 
had been abandoned to an unorganized mob. This is 
well illustrated by the contrast between the ceremonial 
at Coventry (whatever its origin) and that at St. Briavels, 
The stronger hand of a municipality would have a 
restraining power wanting to that of a village com- 
munity, or a parish — especially if the latter had been 
governed by a lord, who in later times had been shorn 
of his authority, or had ceased to reside among, or take 
an interest in the affairs of, his tenantry. Something 
like this I take to have been the history of St. Briavels. 
L There does not appear from Rudder's account to have 
I'lieen, in his time at least, any pageant commemorative of 
■ the achievement of the lady to whom the parishioners 
I reckoned themselves to owe their privileges ; nor have I 
I been able to trace one by local inquiries. But the tradi- 
ftioii is at St. Briavels unmistakably connccXfci VvAv -i. 



88 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

religious and social rite. The distribution of food on a 
day of high and holy festival in the church to the congre- 
gation, and paid for by a levy upon every householder in 
the parish, can point to nothing else than a feast of 
the whole community as a solemn act of worship. Its 
degeneracy in more recent times has been thus described 
to me by the Rev. W. Taprell Allen : — " For many years 
it was customary to bring to the church on Whitsun-day 
afternoon baskets of the stalest bread and hardest cheese, 
cut up into small pieces the size of dice. Immediately 
after the service the bread and cheese were scrambled for 
in the church, and it was a custom to use them as pellets, 
the parson coming in for his share as he left the pulpit. 
About 1857, or perhaps a year or two later, the unseemly 
custom was transferred from the church to the church- 
yard, the bread and cheese being thrown down from the 
church tower. Later on it was transferred to the road 
outside the church gates. It now lasts but a few minutes. 
A few years ago all the roughs of the Forest used to 
come over, and there was much drinking and fighting ; 
but now it is very different. The custom has in fact 
been dying out." From these later stages of decay the 
Godiva pageant was saved by becoming a municipal 
festival. And while at St. Briavels we can watch 
the progress of degeneration from a point at which 
the religious character of the ceremony had not quite 
vanished, down to the most unblushing burlesque, and to 
its ultimate expulsion from consecrated precincts, — at 
Coventry we see but one phase, one moment, at which 
the rite, if it ever, had any title to that name, seems to 
have been photographed and rendered permanent. 

It is obvious, however, that a feast is not a dramatic 
representation of a ride ; and the point requiring elucida- 
tion is the intimate relation of the feast at St. Briavels 
with a story apparently so irrelevant as that of the 
countess^ ride. To explain this, we must suppose that 
the feast was only part — doubtless the concluding part— 



FAIRY BIRTHS AND HUMAN MIDWIVES. 89 

of a ceremony, and that the former portion was a pro- 
cession, of which the central figure was identical with 
that familiar to us at Coventry. But such a procession, 
terminating in a sacred feast, would have had no meaning 
if the naked lady represented a creature merely of flesh 
and blood. It is only explicable on the hypothesis that 
she was the goddess of a heathen cult, such as Hertha (or 
Nerthus), whose periodical progress among her subject 
tribes is described in a well-known passage by Tacitus,' 
and yet survives, as we have seen, in the folklore of 
Riigen. Now the historian tells us that Hertha was 
^ Mother. Earth, the goddess of the soil, whose yearly cele- 
bration would appropriately take place in the spring or 
early summer. To her the produce of the land would be 
ascribed ; and in her name and by her permission would 
all agricultural operations be performed. Such a goddess 
it must be who is honoured by the ceremonies already 
noticed in India. Such a goddess, at any rate, was the 
Bona Dea ; and to such a goddess we may readily believe 
would be ascribed the privilege of cutting wood. It is 
quite consistent with this that the payment by every 
household at St. Briavels should be made to the warden 
of the forest, and that it should be spent by him on the 
goddess' festival. We are left to surmise what were the 
tolls and burdens at Coventry, so vaguely referred to by 
Roger of Wendover. Pigs and horses, we learn from two 
different sources, were not included in the exemptions 
obtained by the countess ; and the reason for this in the 
latter case is accounted for by the incident of Peeping 
Tom. 

One other point is worthy of mention : both at St. . 
Briavels and at Coventry the commemoration takes place 
nearly at the same time of year. The Great Fair at 
Coventry opens on the day after Corpus Christi Day — 
that is to say, the Friday after Trinity Sunday. Corpus 
Christi Day itself was the day on which the celebrated 

* "Germanja,'* c. 40; c/. c. 9, 



90 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

Coventry Miracle Plays were performed ; and the Fair 
opened the next morning. At the same time of year too 
— namely, on Ascension Day — a custom, for which there 
is no explanation in any record, was observed at St. 
MichaePs Church, York, when ale and bread and cKeese 
were yearly given away in the church to the poor of the 
parish.' Although Ascension .Day is separated by three 
weeks from Corpus Christi, the movable character of the 
feasts would bridge this gulf without any difficulty ; and 
heathen observances of the same nature, and referring to 
the same season, when they had to be reconciled to the 
Christian calendar, might easily find places in some 
instances on one day and in others on another day. 
Godgifu and her husband were honoured as founders of 
the Benedictine monastery at Coventry, which rose upon 
the ruins of an earlier house of Benedictine nuns founded 
by Osburg, a lady of the royal house, nearly two hundred 
years before. This nunnery had been destroyed in the 
Danish wars about the year 1016. Consequently, if 
any legend, or ceremony, was known or practised at 
Coventry in connection with some traditional patroness, 
the name of Godgifu was ready to hand to be identified 
with it. Through the monastery Coventry first rose to 
wealth and repute ; and the townsfolk on this score owed 
a debt of gratitude to the foundress, though there is no 
record whether any special day was set apart in her 
honour. 

On the whole, then, there is ground for supposing 
that the legend and procession of Lady Godiva 
are survivals of a pagan belief and worship located at 
Coventry ; that the legend was concerned with a being 
awful and mysterious as Dame Berchta, or Hertha her- 
self ; and that the incident of Peeping Tom was from the 
first, or at all events from an early date, part of the story. 
The evidence upon which these conclusions rest may be 
shortly recapitulated thus : — 

' Nicholson, p. 32, 



/ 




FAIHV BIRTHS AND HUMAN M 

^ I. The absence of historical foundation for the tradition, 
'—2. The close resemblance between the tradition and 
f other stories and superstitions which unquestionably deal 
with heathen goddesses, such as Berchta and Hertha. 

. The equally close analogy between the procession 
ind that described in Eastern stories, which, so far as we 
know, could not have reached England at the latest 
period when the procession could possibly have been 

Iinstituted ; and between the procession and certain 
heathen rites practised not only in the East, but as near 
home as Rome and Germany, — nay, in Britain itself. 
4- The occurrence of a similar procession at Southam, 
in the same county, having the special feature of a black 
lady, best explained as a survival of certain rites 
practised by the ancient Britons. 
5. The connection between the analogous legend at St. 
Eriavel's and the remains of a sacred communal feast that 
dan hardly be anything else than the degraded remnant 
of a pagan observance. 
The want of historical evidence cannot, of course, be 
overlooked ; but we must remember that in investigating 
traditions and traditional observances we are dealing with 
a phase of civilization of which history only yields rare 
and indirect glimpses. It is the absence of direct evidence 
that, not only in the science of Folklore, but also in the 
j physical sciences, causes resort to the evidence afforded by 
I comparison of other structures and processes. On the 
L vahdity of this evidence, and the reasoning based upon it, 
I nearly all our scientific learning depends. In spite, there- 
I fore, of the defects in the historical evidence, and in the 
absence of evidence to the contrary, it can scarcely be 
I denied that the analogies in both custom and legend here 
I brought together amount to a fairly strong presumption 
\. in favour of the conclusions I have ventured to draiv from 



If I may formulate my conjecture as to the course of 
levelopmeat actually pursued, it would^ Siome\Kvci^\:i&!& 



92 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

this. The ceremony at Coventry is a survival of an 
annual rite in honour of a heathen goddess, from which 
men were excluded. This rite, like all such, would have 
been a part of the tribal cult, and intimately associated 
with the tribal life and organization. Side by side with 
it a myth would have been evolved, accounting for the 
performance as a dramatic representation of an event in 
the goddess* career. This myth would have been similar 
in outline to those recited above, and would have com- 
prised an explanation of the exclusion of men. When 
Christianity spread through the district the inhabitants 
would still cling to their old custom and their old myth, 
as we know was done elsewhere, because it was bound up 
with their social life. But, if not violently put down by , 
the rulers of the land, both custom and myth would, / 
little by little, lose their sacred character as the new 
religion increased in influence, and would become trans- 
formed into municipal ceremonies. This process would 
be slow, centuries being required for its completion ; but! 
it would be aided by the gradual development of the ^^ 
tribe first into a settled village community, and thence 
into a mediaeval township. With the loss of sanctity 
the reason for prohibiting the attendance of men would 
vanish ; but the tradition of it would be preserved in the 
incident of the story which narrated Peeping Tonics 
treachery.' 

^ I am indebted to Mr. Samuel Timmins, F.S.A., and to Mr. W. 
G. Fretton, F.S.A., for a great amount of local information and other 
assistance which they have spared ng pains to render me, and to the 
Town Clerk of Coventry for permission to inspect the invaluable local 
manuscripts belonging to the Corporation, 



CHAPTER V. 

CHANGELINGS. 

The belief in changelings — Precautions against changing — Motives 
assigned for changing — Attempts frustrated — How changelings 
may be known — Their physical characteristics — Devices to lead 
them to betray themselves — Their subsequent treatment — ^Journey 
to Fairyland to fetch back the true child — Adult changelings. 

A NEW-BORN babe, of all human beings the most helpless, 
has always roused compassion and care. Nor is it a 
matter for wonder if its helplessness against physical 
dangers have led to the assumption that it is exposed 
to spiritual or supernatural evils more than its elders. 
At all events it seems a widespread superstition that 
a babe, when first it makes its appearance in this world, 
must be protected not merely against the natural perils 
of its condition, but also against enemies of an even 
more subtle and fearful description. The shape taken 
by this superstition in north-western Europe is the belief 
in Changelings — a belief which I propose to examine in 
the present chapter.* 

By the belief in changelings I mean a belief that 
fairies and other imaginary beings are on the watch for 
young children, or (as we shall see hereafter) sometimes 
even for adults, that they may, if they can find them 
unguarded, seize and carry them off, leaving in their 

* The belief in changelings is not confined to Europe, though the 
accounts we have of it elsewhere are meagre. It is found, as we shall 
see further on, in China. It is found also among the natives of the 
Pacific slopes of North America, where it is death to the mother to 
suckle the changeling. Dorman, p. 24, citing Bancioll. 



94 'IHE SCIKNCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

place one of themselves, or a block of wood animated by ' 
their enchantments and made to resemble the stolen 
person. Wise mothers take precautions against such 
thefts. These precautions are tolerably simple, and for 
the most part display the same general character. First 
and foremost among them is the rite of baptism, whereby 
the little one is admitted into the Christian Church. 
Faith in the efficacy of baptism as a protection from 
the powers hostile to man is not less strong among 
communities nominally Protestant than among Roman 
Catholics, and has doubtless operated to bring many 
children within the pale of the visible Church who might 
otherwise have been long in reaching that sacred en- 
closure. Examples of the belief in the power of baptism 
against the depredations of fairies could easily be cited 
from all Protestant countries. Without doing this, we 
jnayjust pause to note that baptism was also reckoned 
a remedy for disease. This is doubtless a vehc of the old 
creed which refers all human ailments to witchcraft and 
■ other spiritualistic origins. Mr, Henderson, speaking of 
the notion prevalent in the north of England that sickly 
infants never thrive until they are christened, relates a 
story communicated to him by a clergyman, within whose 
personal knowledge it had happened. He says ; " The 
infant child of a chimney-sweeper at Thome, in the West 
Riding of Yorkshire, was in a very weak state of health, 
and appeared to be pining away. A neighbour looked 
in, and inquired if the child had been baptized. On an 
answer being given in the negative, she gravely said, ' I 
would try having it christened.' The counsel was taken, 
and I believe with success."' The same belief is found 
both in North and South Wales. It is also testified 
to by a Scottish clergyman, who moreover adduces the 
following conversation as illustrative of it and of "an 
undefinable sort of awe about unbaptized infants, as well 
as an idea of uncanniness in having them without baptism 
in the Jiouse," which is entertained among the labouring 



CHANGELINGS. 95 

jdasses in the north-east of Scotland. " Oh, sir," said the 
I wife of a working man to the minister, on asking him 
I to baptize her child along with others, whose mothers 
I Were present, "this registration's the warst thing the 
I queentry ever saw ; it sud be deen awa' wee athegeethir ! " 
T "Why?" asked the minister, in astonishment at the 
[ woman's words and earnestness of manner. '' It'll pit oot 
n athegeethir. Ye see the craitirs gets their names, 
3 jist think that aneuch, an' we're in nae hurry 
sennin for you." How far, as this anecdote dimly sug- 
gests, it was the giving of a name which was supposed 
protect a child, I cannot say : more probably it was 
} the dedication to God involved in baptism. This is 
t countenanced by the precaution said to have been ob- 
served in Nichsdale when a pretty child was born to 
consecrate it to God, and sue for its protection by " taking 
the Beuk " and other acts of prayer and devotion.' 

Putting aside such ceremonies as these which may be 

supposed distinctly Christian, there were other charms 

looked upon as efficacious. Thus in Scotland it was 

deemed highly judicious to keep an open Bible always 

near a child, and even to place the holy voiume beneath 

1 the head of a woman in labour. In some parts of 

L Germany it is enough to lay a .single leaf out of a Bible 

[. or prayer-book in the cradle, until by the baptism of the 

infant the danger of robbery passes away ; and a prayer- 

I book is also placed under the pillow of the newly-made 

r, who is at that time specially liable to fall under 

[ the power of the underground folk. Indeed a prayer- 

l book, or the mere repetition of a Paternoster, is equally 

[ valuable with a Bible for these purposes ; and if, by the 

I. neglect of any of these precautions, an opportunity be 

Scottish lallad given at length, " F. L. Recoid," 

I'Vo]. i. p. 235; Heniierson, p. 15; " Cymru Fu N. and Q." vol. ii. 

, 144 ; Gtegor, p. II [[/■ Hartand and Wilkinson, p. 221) ; Cromek, 

247. See Weleler, p. 73, wliere a wilch eatiies away a cliild who 

not blessed when il sneezes. 



§6 tHE SCIENCE OF FAtRY TALES. 



/ 



given to the foe, the child may yet be saved by the 
utterance of the name of Jesus Christ at the moment 
when the change is being effected. Holy water and the 
sign of the cross, in Ireland, or a rosary blessed by a 
priest, in Picardy, enjoy a similar reputation.* 
^ ' All these means of prevention are veneered with some 

. ' sort of Christianity ; but there are others which display 
Heathenism naked and unblushing. While a child in 
Mecklenburg re mains unbaptized it is n ecessafyt o burn 

' ' a ITghMTTjj ^e cham ber. Nor j<; the <;n per!=;tiM9n confine d 
toong..^jd«ti let . it IS common all over Germany and 
Denmark ; it was once common in England ; it is found 
. in Ireland ; it is found among the Lithuanians on the 
shores of the Baltic ; it Avas practised by the ancient 
Romans, and appears to be a relic of the sacred character 
anciently imputed to fire. In the island of Lewis fire used 
to be carried round women before they Avere churched 
and children before they Avere christened, both night and 
morning ; and this Avas held effectual to preserve both 
■' mother and infant from evil spirits, and (in the case of 
the infant) from being changed. The Sad Dar, one of 
the sacred books of the Parsees, contains directions to 
keep a continual fire in the house during a woman^s 
pregnancy, and after the child is born to burn a lamp 
for three nights and days — a fire, indeed, is declared to 
be better — ** so that the demons and fiends may not be 
able to do any damage and harm." By way of enforcing 
this precept Ave are told that when Zoroaster Avas born, 
a demon came at the head of a hundred and fifty other 
demons, every night for three nights, to slay him, but 
they were put to flight by seeing the fire, and Avere con- 
sequently unable to hurt him.^ 

' Napier, p. 40; "F. L. Journal," vol. i. p. 56; Kuhn, pp. 365, 196; 
Knoop, p. 155; *'Zeits. f. Volksk." vol. ii. p. 33; Kennedy, p. 95 J 
Carnoy, p. 4 ; *' F. L. Journal," vol. ii. p. 257. 

' Bartsch, vol. i. pp. 64, 89 ; vol. ii. p. 43 ; Kuhn, p. 195 ; Knoop, 
/i7^. a'/. ; Jahn, pp. 52, 71 ; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 174 ; " Zeits. f. Volksk.'* 



CHANGELINGS, 97 

Iron or steel, in the shape of needles, a key, a knife, 

la pair of tongs, an open pair of scissors, or in any other 

>e, if placed in the cradle, secured the desired end. 

Bulgaria a reaping-hook is placed in a corner of 

I the room for the same purpose. I shall not stay now 

. to discus^ the reason why supernatural beings dread 

' and disUke iron. The open pair of scissors, however, 

) it should be observed, has double power ; for it is not 

f only of the abhorred metal, — it is also in form a cross. 

I The use of the cross in baptism wa.s probably one of 

I the reasons for the efficacy of that rite against felonious 

I fairies. At all events, over a very wide area the cross 

I thought a potent protection ; nor is the belief by 

■ any means confined to Christian lands. Mr. Mitchell- 

Innes tells us that the fear of changelings exists in 

avert the calamity of nursing a demon, 

dried banana-skin is burnt to ashes, which are then mixed 



with water. Into this the mother dips her fii 



ger 



and 



I paints a cross upon the sleeping babe's forehead. In a 
short time the demon soul returns — for the soul wanders 
from the body during sleep and is free — but, failing to 
recognize the body thus disguised, flies off. The true 
soul, which has been waiting for an opportunity, now 
approaches the dormant body, and, if the mark has been 
washed off in time, takes possession of it ; but if not, it, 

' like the demon, failing to recognize the body, departs, and 

I the child dies in its sleep."' How to hit the exact 

, vol. ii. liK. tit. W. Map, Dit,t. ii. c. 14 ; Brand, vol. ii. p. 8, noie ; Lady 
Wilde, vol. i. pp- 71, 73 ; Schleicher, p. 93 ; Terlullian, " Adv. Naliones," 
c. 1 1 ; Brand, vol. ii. p. 334 note, imoting Marlin, " History of the 

[ Western Islands"; Train, vol. ii. p. 132 ; " Sacred Books of the East," 
j™iv. p. 277. As to the use of fire in China, see " F. L. Journal," 
V. p. 225 ; and generally as to the efficacy of fire in driving off evil 

I spirits see Tylor, vol. ii. p. 177. 

' Grimm, "Teul. Mylh." p. 468; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. z, vol, iii. 

' p. 45 [ Train, vol. ii. p. 133 ; Gatnett, pp. 231, 315 1 " F. L. Journal," 
vol. V. p. 225. In Eastern Prussia a sleel used for alriking a light, a 
hammer, or anythiogelse that will strike fire, is used. Thvo =*e3se. Va 

|.£Ofnbiiie the dread of steel wilhlhat of file (1-i«9k.e, ^. ^^V 



98 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

moment between the flight of the demon and the advent 
of the true soul doubtless puzzles many a Chinese mother 
fully as much as the cross puzzles the two competing 
souls. But when she is successful she baffles the evil 
spirit by deceit, of which the cross is made the instru- 
ment ; though we may well believe that the child is 
not disguised in this way without reference to the cross's 
inherent sanctity ; for it is a religious symbol among 
nations who never heard the gospel of the Crucified. 

Spirits whose baleful influences are' feared by man are 
happily easily tricked. To this guilelessness on their 
part must be attributed another strange method of de- 
feating their evil designs on children. It appears to be 
enough to lay over the infant, or on the bed beside the 
mother, a portion of the father's clothes. A shepherd's 
wife living near Selkirk was lying in bed one day with 
her new-born boy at her side, when she heard a sound 
of talking and laughter in the room. Suspecting what 
turned out to be the case, she seized in great alarm her 
husband's waistcoat, which was lying at the foot of the 
bed, and flung it over herself and the child. The fairies, 
for it was they who were the cause of the noise, set up 
a loud scream, crying out : " Auld Luckie has cheated 
us o' our bairnie ! " Soon afterwards the woman heard 
something fall down the chimney, and looking out she 
saw a waxen effigy of her baby, stuck full of pins, lying 
on the hearth. The would-be thieves had meant to sub- 
stitute this for the child. When her husband came home 
he made up a large fire and threw the doll upon it ; but, 
instead of burning, the thing flew up the chimney amid 
shouts of laughter from the unseen visitors. The sugges- 
tion seems to be that the sight of the father's clothes 
leads "the good people" to think that he himself is 
present watching over his offspring. Some articles of 
clothing, however, seem to have special virtue, such as 
a right shirt-sleeve or a left stocking, though wherefore 
IS not very clear ; and in Chma, ^.bout Canton, a fisher-« 



CllANUELINC.S. 



99 



r man's net is employed wilh as little apparent reason. In .■' 
' Sweden the babe is wrapped in red cloth, which we may 
be allowed to conjecture is iiitendi;d to cozL'n the fairies 
by simulating fire.' . ; 

M oreover, certain plants arc cr '^'^lj^pil «■!*'■ - '^'""lir 
gift._ "In Germany 'arant (whatever that may be), blue 
marjoram, and black cumin; and in Denmark garlic-— 
nasty enough surely to keep any beings off— and bread 
are used. The EJanes, too, place salt in the cradle or 
over the door. The Trali aii^ fear n nt only fairies who rob 
them of their children, but also witches who tear the 
faces of unbaptized infants. These are both old super- 
stitions, dating in one form or other from classic times. 
To baulk the witches of their prey it is in some places 
customary to keep a light burning in the chamber at 
night, and to affix at the door of the house the image of 
a saint, hanging to it a rosary and an unravelled napkiii ; 
while behind the door are put a jar full of salt and a 
brush. A two-fold defence is thus built up ; for the 
witch, beholding the image of the saint and the rosary, 
will straightway retire ; or if these fail to warn her off, 
she will on entering be compelled to count the grains of ^ 
salt, the broken threads of the napkin, and the twigs of ./ 
the brush — a task that will keep her occupied from mid- 
night, when at the earliest she can dare appear, until dawn, 
when she must slink away without having been able to 
attain her object. A mong the Greeks witches are believed 

to hay^rp^ l- pi»»J>T _ Xti.y ^.^pTJ nf-W. K] ii i i lulu « l-n » iir lf 

I their blood or to prick them to death with sharp instru- 
ments. Often they inflict such injuries that a child 
I remains for ever a cripple or an invalid. The Nereids of 
I the fountains and springs are also on the watch " to 
i exchange one of their own fracti<ius offspring for a 
I mortal babe." Constant watchfulness, and baptism as 

' Grimm, " Tout. Mylh." Ix. eil. ; Train, vol. ii. h(. cil. ; Hemlerson, 
14; "F. L. Journal," vol. v. [>. 224; '• Zeits. f. Volksk."vol. ii. 
I p- 33 ; " N. and Q." yih Bet. vol, Ji. p. 1S5. 



lOO THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

soon as the Church permits it, are therefore necessary. 
In England it seems to have been held in former 
days that witches stole children from their cradles 
before baptism to make an oil or unguent by boiling 
them to a jelly. A part of this jelly they used to drink, 
and with the remainder they rubbed their bodies. This 
Avas the orthodox means of acquiring magical poAvers. 
It is a Sicilian belief that the hands of unbaptized chil- 
dren are used by witches in their sorceries.^ 
^ As we might expect, thej g^ason why unbap tized babes 
arq held_t o_be so l iable to these attacks is that until the 
initiatory rite has been pertormedlhcy nil! luukcd-4ipon 
as heathen, and therefore peculiarly under the dominion 
of evil spirits. In Sicily and in Spain'lin infanttmtil 
baptism is called by the opprobrious epithets of Pagan^ 
Turk^ Moor ^ Jew. Even women Avill not kiss it, for to kiss 
a Moor, at all events in Spain, is sin ; though, on the other 
hand, to kiss an unbaptized child, if no one else have 
kissed it, is sovereign against toothache. By the Greeks 
these little innocents are regarded not merely as not 
Christians, but as really less human than demoniac in 
their nature. This is said, indeed, to be the teaching of 
the Church. The lower classes, at least (and, presumably 
therefore, not long ago the upper classes) believe it firmly ; 
so that an unbaptized babe is called Drakos (feminine, 
Drakould)^ that is to say, serpent or dragon. This is the 
same opprobrious title that we found Gervase of Tilbury 

* Henderson, loc. cit. ; Kartsch, vol. ii. p. 192 ; Pitre, vol. xv. pp. 154 
note, 155; vol. xvii. p. 102, quoting Castelli, " Credenze ed usi " ; 
Horace, " Ep. ad Pison," v. 340 ; Dorsa, p. 146 ; Wright, " Middle 
Ages,'* vol. i. p. 290; Garnett, p. 70; ** Melusine," vol. v. p. 90, 
quoting English authorities. Map, Dist. ii. c. 14, gives a story of 
babies killed by a witch. St. Augustine records that the god Silvanus 
was feared as likely to injure women in childbed, and that for their pro- 
tection three men were employed to go round the house during the 
night and to strike the threshold with a hatchet and a pestle and sweep 
it with a brush ; and he makes merry over the superstition (** De Civ. 
Dei," I \i, c. g). 




applying [o the eiHI spirits infesting the waters of the 
Rhone ; and we cannot doubt that it is intended to con- 
vey an imputation of Satanic nature.' The extent of 
this superstition would form an interesting subject of 
inquiry. If it could be established as existing now or 
formerly among other Christian nations (and the super- 
stitions of Sicily and Spain just cited point to this) it 
would help to clear up much of the difficulty surrounding 
the subject of changelings, especially the motives actuating 
both fairies and witches in their depredations. And, as 
infant baptism is by no means exclusively a Christian 
rite, research among heathen nations would be equally 
pertinent. "]- ] 

Meanwhile the jnotive usually assigne d to fairies in 
n orthern stories is that of preserving and impraiiii^jt iwMr 
race, on the one han d by carrying off human childre n to 
b^ ^Yiught. up amnn fT the nlves and to become unTRlt 
with thera, and on the other hand by obtaining the miik 
and fostering care of human mothers for their own 
offspring. Doubts have been expressed by the German 
poet and mythologiat, Karl Simrock, whether this was 
the primitive motive. He suggests that originally these 
spirits were looked upon as wholly beneficent, and even 
the theft of children was dictated by their care for the 
best interests of mankind. Nor does he hesitate to lay it 
down that the selfish designs just mentioned were first 
attributed to them when with growing enlightenment 
the feeling manifested itself that the kindly beings were 
falling into decay." i 

It might be sufficient to reply that no spiritual existences 1 
imagined by men in a state of civilization such as sur- | 
rounded our Celtic and Teutonic forefathers were ever 

' Pitri, vol. si[. p. 304, nule; vol. xv. p. 15^; " F. L. Espafi." 
Tol. ii. p. Jl ; De Gul>ernalis, " UsI Nalal." p. 2ig, quoting Bezales, 
" Le Bapleme." 

I "Barlscli, vol. i. p. 46; J^lin, p. Sg ; Giiiiim, " T™l My*." '0' ^^'^• 

L Simtock, p. 41S, 



102 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

regarded as unswervingly benevolent : c^priceand vin- 




diV tivp i nP i'iS j if nftt ffniolty ; ftrn alvvay^i rlffm^n ts of th eir 
rhnrnrtfjf "Rnynnrl this general consideration, however, 
there is a further and conclusive ansAver in the fact that 
there is no warrant in tradition for the supposition that 
could we penetrate to the oldest strata of mythical belief 
we should not discover selfish designs imputed to ** the 
good people." The distinguished commentator himself 
is bound to admit that the belief in their need of human 
help is entwined in the very roots of the Teutonic myths. 
It is, indeed, nothing but the mediaeval and Teutonic 
form of tenets common to all the nations upon earth. 
The changeling superstition and the classic stories of 
children and adults beloved by gods of high and low 
degree are consistent with this belief, and inseparable 
from it. The motive is so far comprehensible : what is 
wanted is to know whether any special relations, such as 
are pointed at by the Greek epithet Drakos^ were held to 
exist between the mysterious world and newly-born babes 
which Avould render the latter more obnoxious to attack than 
elder children or adults ; or Avhether, as I have put it at 
the beginning of this chapter, their helplessness alone 
suggested their exceeding danger. To solve the riddle 
Ave must wait for a larger accumulation of documents.^ 

* There is another motive for the robbery of a human creature, men- 
tioned only, I think, in the Romance of Thomas the Rhymer, namely, that 
at certain seasons the foul fiend fetches his fee, or tribute of a living soul, 
from among the underground folk. Several difificulties arise upon this ; 
but it is needless to discuss them until the motive in question be found 
imputed elsewhere than in a literary work of the fifteenth century, and 
ballads derived therefrom. 

Since the foregoing note was written my attention has been 
drawn to the following statement in Lady Wilde, vol. i. p. 70: 
** Sometimes it is said the fairies carry off the mortal child for 
a sacrifice, as they have to offer one every seven years to the 
devil in return for the power he gives them. And beautiful young 
girls are carried off, also, either for sacrifice or to be wedded to the 
fairy k'mg/^ It is easier to generalize in this manner than to pro- 
duce documents in proof. And 1 t\vmk 1 am e^^i^«««v^\.\ve o^jlnion of 



CHANGEL1NG3. lOJ 

But in the best regulated families it is not always pos- 
sible to prevent the abduction from being attempted, 
and sometimes accomplished, in spite of every precaution. 
One night a Welsh ivoman, waking in a fright in her 
husband's absence, missed her baby. She sought for it 
and caught it upon the boards above the bed : the fairies 
had not succLieded in bearing it any further away. 
Another felt her boy being taken from her arms ; where- 
upon she screamed and held him tightly, and, according 
to her own expression, " God and m.e were too hard for 
them," The child grew up to become a famous preacher. 
A peasant woman in Mecklenburg who ventured to 
sleep without a light was attacked by an clf-woman. 
The stranger seized the ciiild, but was baffled by the 
woman's determination ; for she struggled and shrieked 
for her husband, and when he hurried in with a light the 
fairy vanished." 

Nor is it always the mother who arrests the theft. 
A trick frequently played by the dwarfs in Northern 
Germany on the birth of a child was to pinch a cow's 
ear ; and when the animal bellowed and everybody 
ran out to know why, a dwarf would slip indoors and 
effect the change. On one such occasion the father saw 
his infant being dragged out of the room. In the nick 
of time he grasped it and drew it towards himself. The 
changeUng left in its place was found in the bed ; and 
this he kept too, defying the efforts of the underground 
folk to regain it. At a place iti North Jutland it bap- 
pined many years ago in a lying-iu room that the mother 
could get no sleep while the lights were burning. So 
her husband resolved to take the child in his arm, in 
I order to keep strict watch over it so long as it was dark. 

t b1I folklore students when I say Ihnl, wllh nil respect fur LaJy Wilde, 

[ 1 would rnlher not lay any stress upon her general slalcments. Indeed, 

those of anybody, however great an authority, need to be checked by 

the evidence of particular instances. I await such evidence. 

I ' Sikes, p. 62; (f. Brand, \-ol. ii, p. 3J4nole', Bm\.siAv,'jo\.'v5. ^. 



104 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

But, unfortunately, he fell asleep ; and on being awakened 
by a shake of the arm, he saw a tall woman standing by 
the bed, and found that he had an infant in each arm. 
The woman instantly vanished ; and as he had forgotten 
in which arm he had held his child, there he lay without 
knowing which of the two children was his own. A boy, 
who was watching his younger sister Avhile his parents 
were both from home, saAV a small man and woman come 
from behind the oven. They told him to give them the 
little one ; and when he refused they stepped to the cradle 
and endeavoured to take the babe by force. The boy, 
however, was strong and bold, and laid about him with 
such determination that the robbers at length took to 
flight. On the Lithuanian coast of the Baltic substan- 
tially the same tale is told with more humour. There a 
farmer's boy sleeping in the living-room of the house is 
awakened by the proceedings of two laurms^ or elves. 
They stealthily fetch out of the bedroom the new-born 
babe and swathe it in swaddling clothes of their own, 
while they wrap in its clothes the oven-broom. Then 
they began to quarrel which of them should carry the 
broom thus rolled up into the bedroom ; and as they 
were unable to agree they resolved to carry it together. 
No sooner had they disappeared into the inner apart- 
ment than the boy leaped out of bed, picked up his 
mistress' child and took it into his OAvn bed. When 
the laumes returned the infant was not to be found. 
They were both very angry and began to scold one 
another : '* It's your fault." *' No, it's your fault ; didn't 
I say. You carry it, while I stay here and keep watch ? I 
said it would be stolen ! " While they Avrangled thus, 
kakary ku ! crew the cock, and, foiled and enraged, they 
had to make off. The boy had great difficulty in waken- 
ing his mistress, who Avas in a deep sleep, dreaming a 
horrible dream that a stock of wood had been placed on 
her breast so that she could hardly breathe. He told her 
what had happened, but she would not believe it until 



CHANG Eli NC3. 105 

Islie saw that she had two children — one to which she had 
I given hirth, the other fashioned out of the oven-broom.' 
Prayer and the utterance of a holy name are to the full 
as effectual a=i physical strength. A fisherwoman in the 
north-east of Scotland was once left alone in bed with her 

»baby, when in came a little man dressed in green, and 
proceeded to lay hold of the child. The woman knew at 
once with whom she had to do, and ejaculated : " God 
be atween you an' me ! " Out rushed the fairy in a 
moment, and mother and babe were left without further 
molestation. A curious tale is told of two Strathspey 
smugglers who were one night laying in a stock of 

t whiskey at Glenlivat when they heard the child in the 
cradie give a piercing cry, just as if it had been shot. 
The mother, of course, blessed it ; and the Strathspey 
lads took no further notice, and soon afterwards went 
their way with their goods. Before they had gone far 
they found a fine healthy child lying all alone on the 
roadside, and recognized it as their friend's. They saw at 
once how the affair stood. The fairies had taken away 
the real infant and left a stock ; but owing to the pious 
ejaculation of the mother, they had been forced to drop 
it. As the urgency of their business did not admit of 
their return they took the child with them, and kept it 
until they went to Glenlivat again. On their arrival 
I here they said nothing about the child, which they kept 
[ concealed. In the course of conversation the woman 
I remarked that the disease which had attacked the little 
e the last time they were there had never left it, and 
I she had now scarce any hope of its recovery. As if to 
1 confirm her statement, it con tinned uttering most piercing 
I cries. The smugglers thereupon produced the real babe 
I healthy and hearty, and told her how they had found it. 
I The mother was, of course, pleased to recover it ; and the 
I next thing was to dispose of the changeling. For this 
' Thorpe, vol, ii, p. 175 ; vol. iii. p. 43 ; Kuhn, p. 195 ; SchkkUci, 
1.92. 



I 



Io6 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

purpose the Strathspey lads got an old creel to put him 
in and some straw to light under it. Seeing the serious 
turn matters were likely to take he resolved not to await 
the trial, but flew up the smoke-hole and cried out from 
the top that but for the guests events Avould have gone 
very differently.^ 

Two pixies of Dartmoor, in the shape of large bundles 
of rags, led away one of two children Avho were following 
their mother homeward. It was eventually, found, on 
a search being made by the neighbours with lanterns, 
under a certain large oak tree known to be pixy-haunted. 
This is hardly a changeling story, as no attempt was 
made to foist a false child on the parent. A tale from 
the Isle of Man contains two similar incidents of attempted 
robbery without replacing the stolen child by one of 
superhuman birth. The fairies there adopted artifices 
like those of the North German dwarfs above mentioned. 
A few nights after a woman had been delivered of her 
first child a cry of fire was raised, and every one ran out 
of the house to see Avhence it proceeded, leaving the 
helpless mother alone with her babe. On returning they 
found the infant lying on the threshold of the house. 
The following year, when another little stranger had 
presented itself, a noise was heard in an out-house among 
the cattle. Again everybody that was stirring, including 
the nurse, hurried forth to learn what was the matter, 
believing that the cattle had got loose. But finding all 
safe, they came back, only to discover that the new-born 
babe had been taken out of bed, as the former had been, 
and on their coming dropped in the middle of the entry. 
It might have been supposed that these two warnings 
would have been enough ; but a third time the trick was 
played, and then more successfully. Forgetting what 
had previously happened, all who were in the house ran 
out one night on hearing a noise in the cow-house — all, 
that is, except the mother, who could not move, and the 
' Gregor, p. 61 ; Keightley, p. 393 ; Campbell, vol. ii. p. 64. 



CHANGELINGS. 107 

nurse, who was sleeping off the effects of alcohol. The 
former was lying broad awake and saw her child lifted 
from the bed by invisible hands and carried clean away. 
She shrieked at once to the nurse, but failed to arouse 
her ; and when her husband returned, an infant was 
indeed lying beside her, but a poor, lean, withered, 
deformed creature, very different from her own. It lay 
quite naked, though the clothes of the true child had 
been considerately left for it by the ravishers.* 

One of the difficulties experienced by the fairies on two 
of the three occasions here narrated in making off with 
the little one occurred at the door of the house. That 
they should have tried, repeatedly at all events, to pass 
out that way is almost as remarkable as that they should 
have been permitted more than once to attempt the 
theft. For the threshold is a part of the dwelling which 
from of old has been held sacred, and is generally avoided 
by uncanny beings. Wiser, though still doomed to 
failure, were those Irish elves who lifted up a window 
and handed the infant out. For it happened that a 
neighbour Avho was coming to pay a visit that moment 
stopped before the house, and exclaimed : " God keep all 
here from harm ! " No sooner had she uttered the 
words than she saw the child put forth, how, or by 
whom, she did not know ; and without hesitation she 
went up and took it away home Avith her. The next 
morning Avhen she called to see how her friend fared 
great was the moan made to her over the behaviour of 
the child — so different from what it had ever been before 
— crying all the night and keeping awake its mother, who 
could not quiet it by any means. '' I'll tell you what 
you'll do with the brat," she replied ; " whip it well first ^ 
and then bring it to the cross-roads, and leave the fairy 
in the ditch there for any one to take that pleases ; for 
I have your child at home safe and sound as he was 

» Hunt, p. 96; Waldron, p. 30. This account was given to the 
author by the mother herself. 



/• 



/ Io8 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

handed out of the window last night to me." When the 
mother heard this, she just stepped out to get a rod ; but 
before she returned the changehng had vanished, and no 
one either saw or heard of it again. ^ 

Fairies, however, when bent upon mischief, are not 
ahvays baulked so easily. They effect the exchange, 
^metimes in the house, and sometimes when the parent 
is at work in the fields and incautiously puts her offspring 
down the while. In these circumstances, grievous as 
may be the suspicion arising from the changed conduct 
of the nursling, it is not always easy to be sure of what 
has taken place. Tests, therefore, have to be applied. 
Often the appearance is enough. A " mighty big head," 
or an abnormally thick head and neck, is in Germany 
deemed sufficient credentials from Fairyland ; while in 
a case from Lapland, Avhere the hand and foot grew so 
rapidly as to become speedily nearly half an ell in length 
and the child was unable to learn to speak, Avhereas she 
readily understood what was said to her, these deviations 
from the course of nature were looked upon as conclusive 
evidence.^^ A reputed changeling shown to Waldron in 
the Isle of Man early in the last century is thus described : 
*' Nothing under heaven could have a more beautiful 
face ; but though between five and six years old, and 
seemingly healthy, he was so far from being able to 
walk, or stand, that he could not so much as move any 
one joint ; his limbs were vastly long for his age, but 
smaller than an infantas of six months ; his complexion 
was perfectly delicate, and he had the finest hair in the 
world ; he never spoke, nor cried, eat scarce anything, 
and was very seldom seen to smile, but if any one called 
him a fairy-elf, he would frown and fix his eyes so 

' Croker, p. 8i. See a similar tale in Campbell, vol. ii. p. 58. 
Gregor, p. 61, mentions the dog-hole as the way by which children 
are sometimes carried off. 

« Bartsch, vol. i. p. 46; Kuhn, p. 196; Grimm, "Teut. Myth." 
p. 468 ; Poestion, p. 114; Grohmaun, p. 113. 



V 



^^H^earnestly on 
^^V through. 1: 

^^^" TwtniT verv r 



CHANGELINGS. 



I earnestly on those who said it, as if he would look them 

I through. His mother, or at least his supposed mother, 

being very poor, frequently went out a-charing, and left 

him a whole day together. Thu ntighbour-s, out of 

curiosity, have often looked in at the window to see how 

he behaved when alone, which, whenever they did, they 

I were sure to find him laughing and in the utmost delight. 

This made them judge that he was not without company 

more pleasing to him than any mortal's could be ; and 

what made this conjecture seem the more reasonable was, 

I that if he were left ever so dirty, thu woman at her return 

saw him with a clean face, and his hair combed witli the 

utmost exactness and nicety." ' Luther tells us that he 

y saw and touched at Dessau a changed child which was 

i twelve years of age. The account he gives of the child 

t is that "he had his eyes and all members like another 

I child ; he did nothing but feed, and would eat as much 

I as two clowns or threshers were able to eat. When one 

I touched it, then it cried out. When any evil happened 

I in the house, then it laughed and was joyful ; but when 

I all went well, then it cried and was very sad." So much 

■ for the Reformer's testimony of what he sasv and was 

told. His theories and generalizations are in their way 

not less interesting than his testimony : as might have 

been expected, they are an adaptation of the ordinary 

I superstitions to his own grim scheme of things. " Such 

I changelings and killcrops," he goes on to say, " supjxjHit 

I Satan in locum verorum fib'orum ; for the devil hath 

\ this power, that he changeth children, and instead 

thereof layeth devils in the cradles, which thrive not, 

i only they feed and suck : but such changeHngs live not 

above eighteen or nineteea years. It sometimes falleth 

\ out that the children of women in child-bed are thus 

changed, and Devils laid in Iheir stead, one of which 

I more fouleth itself than ten other children do, so that 

[- ' Waldroii, [1. 29. The aamt: writer gives a similar account of the 
L changeling mentioned above, p. 107. 



1 



/ ' no THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 






^ 



the parents are much therewith disquieted ; and the 
mothers in such sort are sucked out, that afterwards they 
are able to give suck no more." ' 

Making allowance for the influence of imagination, 
there can be no doubt, on comparison of these passages, 
/" that the children to whom the character of changelings 
was ascribed jvere invariably deformed or diseased. The 
delightful author of the ^ Popular Romances of the 
West of England " says that some thirty or forty years 
before the date of writing he had seen several reputed 
changelings. And his evidence is express that " in every 
case they have been sad examples of the influence of 
mesenteric disease." After describing their external 
symptoms, he adds : " The wasted frame, with sometimes 
strumous swellings, and the unnatural abdominal enlarge- 
ment which accompanies disease of mesenteric glands, 
gives a very sad, and often a most unnatural, appearance 
to the sufferer." Professor Rhys^ description of a re- 
puted changeling, one Ellis Bach, of Nant Gwrtheyrn, 
in Carnarvonshire, is instructive as showing the kind of 
being accredited among the Welsh with fairy nature. 
The professor is repeating the account given to him of 
this poor creature, who died nearly half a century ago. 
He tells us : " His father was a farmer, whose children, 
both boys and girls, were like ordinary folks, excepting 
Ellis, who was deformed, his legs being so short that his 
body seemed only a few inches from the ground when he 
walked. His voice was also small and squeaky. How- 
ever, he was very sharp, and could find his way among 
the rocks pretty well when he went in quest of his father's 
sheep and goats, of which there used to be plenty there 
formerly. Everybody believed Ellis to have been a 
changeling, and one saying of his is well known in 
that part of the country. When strangers visited Nant 
Gwrtheyrn, a thing which did not frequently happen, 

' "Colloquia Mensalia," quoted by Southey, "The Doctor" (London, 
J 848), p. 621, As to the attribute of greed, cf, Keightley, p. 125. 



CHAHCEUNCS. 1 1 1 

and wbea his parents askuJ them to their labk-, and 
pressed them to cat, he would squeak out drily : ' B'yla 
^nynna Kylar c^-btal^ that is to say — 'Eating — that 
means eating all.' '' A changeling in Monmouthshire^ 
described by an eye-witness at the banning of th« 
present centur>-, was simply an idiot of a forbidding^ 
aspect, a dark, tawny complexion, and much addicted to' 
screaming.' 

But a changeling was to be known in other wa\-s than 

I by his physical defects ; und«r careful management he 

night be led to betray himself in speech or action. A 

\ Kirkcudbrightshire tale represents a child as once left in 

k charge of a tailor, who "commenced a discourse" with 

L him. '"Will, hae ye your pipes?' says the tailor. 

'They're below ray head," says the tenant of the cradle. 

'Play me a spring,' says the tailor. Like thought, the 

[ little man, jumping from the cradle, played round the 

I room with great glee, A curious noise was heard mean- 

I time outside ; and the tailor asked what it meant. The 

little elf called out : ' It's my folk wanting me," and away 

I he fled up the chimney, leaving the tailor more dead 

I than alive." In the neighbouring county of Dumfries 

p the story is told with more gusto. The gudewife goes 

I to the hump-backed tailor, and says : " Wullic, I maun 

1 awa' to Dunse about my wab, and I dinna ken what to 

' the bairn till I come back : ye ken it's but a 

liwhingin', screechin', skirlin' wallidreg— but we maun 

■Huni.p.Ss; ■' Y C)'nminxior,"vQl. vi. p. I7S( Kev. Edmund Jones, 
"A Relation of -Apparitions," quoted liy Wirt Hikes, p. 56. Thitli; 
lelates a story in which a wild stallion colt is brought in to smell two 
labes, one of which is a chiingeUng. Every time he smells one he Is 
quiet and licks it ; but on smelltn|{ the other he is invarinlily restive 
and strives to kick it. The latter, therefore, is the changeling. (Thorpe, 
vol. ii. p. 177.) Sir John Maimdeville also states that in Sicily is a 
kind of serpent whereby men assay the legitimacy of their children. 
[ Jf the children be illegitimate the serpents bile nnd kill ihtm ; if 
" £ they do Ihem no hann— an easy and off-hand way of getlio); 
idoflhera! ('■ Early Tiav." p. 155). 



1 



112 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

bear wi' dispensations. I wad wuss ye,* quoth she, * to 
tak tent tilPt till I come hame — ye sail hae a roosin* 
ingle, and a blast o' the goodman's tobacco-pipe forbye.* 
WuUie was naething laith, and back they gaed the- 
gither. WuUie sits down at the fire, and awa* wi' her 
yarn gaes the wife ; but scarce had she steekit the door, 
and wan half-way down the close, when the bairn cocks 
up on its doup in the cradle, and rounds in Wullie's lug : 
* Wullie Tylor, an' ye winna tell my mither when she 
comes back, Tse play ye a bonny spring on the bag-pipes.' 
I wat Wullie's heart was like to loup the hool — ^for 
tylors, ye ken, are aye timorsome — but he thinks to 
himsel' : * Fair fashions are still best,' an' * It's better to 
fleetch fules than to flyte wi' them ' ; so he rounds 
again in the bairn*s lug : * Play up, my doo, an' I'se tell 
naebody.' Wi' that the fairy ripes amang the cradle 
strae, and pu's oot a pair o' pipes, sic as tylor Wullie 
ne'er had seen in a' his days — muntit wi' ivory, and 
gold, and silver, and dymonts, and what not. I dinna 
ken what spring the fairy played, but this I ken weel, 
that Wullie had nae great goo o' his performance ; so 
he sits thinkin' to himsel' : * This maun be a deil's get, 
Auld Waughorn himsel' may come to rock his son's 
cradle, and play me some foul prank ; ' so he catches 
the bairn by the cuff o' the neck, and whupt him into 
the fire, bagpipes and a' ! " ^ 

In Nithsdale the elf-child displays a superhuman 
power of work. The mother left it on one occasion in 
the charge of a servant-girl, who sat bemoaning herself. 
" Wer't nae for thy girning face I would knock the 
big, winnow the corn, and grun the meal ! " " Lowse 
the cradle band," cried the child, "and tent the 
neighbours, an' I'll work yere wark." With that he 
started up, the wind arose, the corn was winnowed, the 
outlyers were foddered, the hand-mill moved around as 
by instinct, and the knocking mell did its work with 
' Campbell, vol. ii. p, 58 ; Chambers, p. 70. 



CHANfiELlNGS. II3 

Famazing rapidity. The lass and the elf meanwhile 
K'took their ease, until, on this mistress's return, he was 
li restored to the cradle and began to yell anew.' 

Most of the stories of changelings, in fact, assume 
p that, though the outward characteristics might justify 
rvehement suspicion, yet they were not absolutely 
lidecisive, and that to arrive at certainty the elf must 
I be brought to betray himself. No great subtlety, how- 
I ever, was needful ; for the stratagem employed varies 
I but tittle, as the following examples will show. The 
f child of a married couple in Mecklenburg at two years 
1 of age was no longer than a shoe, but had a mighty big 
, and, withal, was unable lo learn to speak. Its 
I parents were led by an old man to suspect that it had 
I'been changed, and their adviser told them: "If you 
I wish to become certain, take an empty egg-shell, and in 
I the child's presence pour in new beer and cause it to 
tferment by means of yeast. If then the child speak, my 
I conjecture is right." His counsel was followed, and 
[ scarcely had the beer fermented when the child cried 
I out from the cradle : 

" I am as old 
As Bohemian gokl, 
Yet for the first lime now I see 
Beer in an e^-shell brew'il to lie.'' 

[ The parents determined to fling the babe into the river 

I the following night ; but when at midrught they rose for 

the purpose they found in the cradle a strong, blooming 

child. In a Welsh tale from Radnorshire the egg-shell 

is boiled full of pottage in the children's sight (there are 

I twins in this case) and taken out as a dinner for the 

[ reapers who happened to be cutting the rye and oats. 

~' inorganshire the woman declares she is mixing a 

1 pasty for the reapers. An Icelandic legend makes a 

I wom^n set a pot containing food to cook on the fire 

■ Cromek, p. 246. 



114 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

and fasten twigs end to end in continuation of the 
handle of a spoon until the topmost one appears above 
the chimney, when she puts the bowl in the pot. 
Another woman in a Danish tale engaged to drive a 
changeling out of the house he troubled ; and this is 
how she set about it. In his temporary absence she 
killed a pig and made a black pudding of it, hide, hair 
and all. On his return she set it before him, for he was 
a prodigious eater. He began gobbling it up as usual ; 
but as he ate his efforts gradually slackened, and at last 
he sat quite still, eyeing it thoughtfully. Then he ex- 
claimed : " A pudding with hide ! and a pudding with 
hair ! a pudding with eyes ! and a pudding with bones 
in it ! Thrice have I seen a young wood spring upon 
Tiis Lake, but never yet did I see such a pudding ! The 
devil will stay here no longer ! " And so saying he ran 
off and never returned.^ 

Of these devices, however, the normal one is that of 
the egg-shells. Sometimes one egg-shell only is employed, 
sometimes two — a dozen — or an indefinite number. At 
seaside places, like Normandy and the Channel Islands, 
egg-shells are sometimes replaced by shells of shell-fish. = 
In all the stories the end is the same, namely, to excite 
the curiosity and wonder of the imp to such a pitch that 
he gives expression to it in language akin to that of the 
North German or the Danish tale just quoted. The 
measure of age given in his exclamation is usually that 
of the trees in the forest, or indeed the forest itself. In 
the instance from Mecklenburg, Bohemian gold [Bohmcr 
Gold) is made the measure, and this runs through quite 
a number of Low Dutch stories. There can be little 

' Bartsch, vol. i. p. 42 ; Sikes, p. 59, quoting from the ** Cambrian 
Quarterly," vol. ii. p. 86; "Y Cymmrodor," vol. vi. p. 209; Ama- 
son*s " Icelandic Legends," cited in Kennedy, p. 89 ; Thorpe, vol. 
ii. p. 174, quoting Thiele, " Danmark's Folkesagn samlede." Se^ 
also Keightley, p. 125. 

" Fleuryy p. 60; ** Revue des Trad. Pop." vol. iii. p. 162. 



I 



CHANGELINCJS. 115 

[oubt, however, that it is a corruption, anti that the true 
'form is, as given in a Schleswig-Hohtein tale, Bohemian 
Forest {Behmcr Woelt).' In Hesse Wester Forest 
{WesUrwald) is found, and so on in other countries, 
the narrator in each case referring to some wood well 
known to his audience. The Lithuanian elf, or laiimes, 
says : " I am so old, I was already in the world before 
the Kamschtschen Wood ivas planted, wherein great 
trees grew, and /hat is now laid waste again ; but any- 
thing so wonderful I have never seen." In Normandy 
the changeling declares : " I have seen the Forest of 
Ardennes burnt seven times, but I never saw so many 
Lpots boil." The astonishment of a Scandinavian imp 
■expressed itself even more graphically, for when he saw 
W-Sld. egg-shell boiling on the fire having one end of a 
r^measuring rod set in it, he crept out of the cradle on 
L tis hands, leaving his feet still inside, and stretched 
[/himself out longer and longer until he reached right 
■/across the floor and up the chimney, when he exclaimed : 
\ " Well ! seven times have I seen the wood fall in Lesso 
l.Forest, but never till now have I seen so big a ladle in 
r-so small a pot!" And the Danish story I have cited 
[ above represents the child as saying that he has seen a 
young wood thrice upon Tiis Lake.' The Welsh fairies 
are curiously youthful compared with these hoary infants, 
■which is all the more remarkable when the daring 
■exaggerations of Cambrian story-tellers are considered. 
It is a modest claim only to have seen the acorn before 

r ' Cf. BShnen-Gold, Barlacii, vol. i. p. 22 ; Bokmesold, ibid. p. 47; 
L BShiuey Geld., ibid. pp. 65, 79, and preBUmably p. 89 ; Bo/ima geld, Kuhu 
I iimd Schwartz, p. 30; Bochmaa gold, ibid. p. 31 ; bom tin gold ('jxaha 
I and gold), iliid, p. los ; Baem iin holt (limber and wood), jahn, p. 90 ; 
I Strnholt ill dcH Wott (firewood in the forc'st), and Bremer tyold, 
1 Miillenhoff, cited Grimm, " Tales," vol. i. p. 388, These varialions 
f while preserving a similar sound are snspjcious. 

I ' Grimm, " Tales," vol. i. pp. 163, 388 ; Schleicher, p. 91 ; Flcnry, 
p. 60 ; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 176 ; quoting Asbjomsen, " HuldreevenlvrO' 
L*^ ii. p. tfiS- Q- Sibillut, " Contes Pop." vol. ii. 9. iS. 



r 



THE SC1ENCI5 OF FAIRY 1 



the oak and the egg before the hen, yet that is all that 
is put forward. In one of the Lays of Marie de France 

the wood of Brezal is indicated as the spot where the 
oak was seen.' The formula thus variously used would 
appear to be a common one to describe great antiquity, 
and in all probability itself dates back to a very remote 
period. 

But changelings frequently conform to the more 
civilized usage of measuring itheir age by years. And 
various are the estimates given us, from fifteen hundred 
years in the Emerald Isle down to the computation, 
erring perhaps on the other side, of the young gentle- 
man in the English tale, who remarks ; "Seven years 
old was I before I came to the nurse, and four years have 
I lived since, and never saw so many milk-pans before." 
A yet more mysterious hint as to her earlier life is 
dropped by an imp in Brittany. She has been treated 
to the sight of milk boiling in egg-shells, and cries : 
"I shall soon be a hundred years old, but I never saw so 
many shells boiling ! I was born in Pif and in Paf, in 
the country where cats are made ; but I never saw any- 
thing like it ! " ' To all right-minded persons this dis- 
closure contained sufficient warrant for her reputed 
mother to repudiate her as a witch, though cats are no 
less intimate with fairies than with conjurers. 

Simrock, in his work on German mythology already 
cited, inclines to the opinion that the object of the 
ceremony which the suspected child is made to witness 
is to produce laughter. Ho says : " The dwarf is no 
over-ripe beauty who must keep her age secret. Rather 
something ridiculous must be done to cause him to 

■ Sikes, pp. 58, 59; Howells, p. 138; "Y Cymmiodor," vol. iv, 
p. 20S, vol. vi. pp. ijz, 204 ; Keightlcy, p. 436. 

' Croket, p. es ; "A Pleasant Treatise of Witches," p. 62, quotrd 

in HazUll, " Fairy Tales," p. 372 ; S^biUot, " Contes," vol, ii. p. 76 - 

Catnoy, p. 4; Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 157 ; Campbell, vol. ii. p. 4;; 

" Revue des Trad. Pop." vol. iii. p. i6z, Cf. a Basque laic given by 

tei, whcte lie Devil is liickfciinla WiUin^Us og; (.Webster, p. 58L 




CHANGELINGS. I17 

klaugh, because laughter brings deliverance." ' The 
Fprobleni set before the heroes of many folk-lalts is tn 
[ compel laughter, but that does not seem to be intended 
I in these changeling stories. At least I have only met 
I with it in one, and it certainly is not common. The 
confession of age which the ceremony draws forth is 
really much more. It is a confession that the apparently 
human babe is an imposture, that it belongs in fact to a 
different race, and has no claim on the mother's care and 
tenderness. Therefore it is not always enough for the 
fraud to be discovered : active means must sometimes be 
taken to rid the family of their supernatural burden and 
I regain their own little one. In Grimm's story, in which 
the child laughs, a host of elves comes suddenly bringing 
back the true and carrying away the false one ; and in 
many of the German and Northern tales the changeling 
disappears in one way or other immediately after its 
exclamation. We are sometimes even told in so many 
words that the changeling had betrayed himself, and the 
underground folk were obliged to give back the stolen 
child. And in the Lithuanian story wc have cited the 
laumes straightway falls sick and dies.' Such conduct 
[ accords entirely with the resentment at being recognizel 
' which we have in a previous chapter found to be a 
characteristic of spiritual existences. It is much more 
like the dislike of being found out attributed to beings 
who arc in the habit of walking invisible, than any 
I mystical effect of laughter. 

I If this be so, still less do the stories where it is required 
1 actually to drive the imp away support the learned 
I German's contention. The means taken in these stories 
I are very various. Sometimes it is enough to let the 
I child severely alone, as once in the Isle of Mail where a 
I woman laid her child down in the field while she was 
\ cutting core, and a fairy changed it there and then. 

I ■ Simtock, p. 419. 

L ' Jafin, p. ^ ; Schleicher, \i. 91. 



Il8 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

The changeling began to scream, but the mother was 
prevented by a man who had been a witness to the 
transaction from picking it up ; and when the fairy 
found that no notice was taken the true child was brought 
back. In the island of Lewis the custom was to dig a 
grave in the fields on Quarter Day and lay the goblin in 
it until the next morning, by which time it was believed 
the human babe would be returned. In the north of 
Germany one is advised not to touch the changeling 
with the hands, but to overturn the cradle so that the 
child falls on the floor. The elf must then be swept out 
of the door with an old broom, when the dwarfs will 
come and bring back the stolen child. Putting it on 
the dunghill and leaving it there to cry has been 
practised successfully in England ; but in Ireland this is 
only one part of a long and serious ceremony directed by 
a wizard or " fairy-man.^' In dealing with these stories 
we must always remember that not merely are we con- 
^j^&fned with sagas of something long past, but with a yet 
living superstition, and that the practices I am about to 
mention — even the most cruel and the most ridiculous 
of them — so far respond to the actual beliefs of the 
people that instances of their occurrence are quite recent 
and well authenticated, as we shall presently see. An 
anonymous but well-informed writer describes, as if it 
were by no means an unusual ceremony, that just referred 
to ; and Kennedy gives the same in the shape of a legend. 
It seems to consist in taking a clean shovel and seating 
the changeling on its broad iron blade, and thus conveying 
the creature to the manure heap. The assistants would 
then join hands and circle about the heap thrice while 
the fairy-man chanted an incantation in the Irish language. 
At its conclusion all present would withdraw into the 
house, leaving the child where it had been placed, to 
howl and cry as it pleased. Says Mr. Kennedy : " They 
soon felt the air around them sweep this way and that, 
as if it was stirred by the motiotv oi nniu^s^ but they 



CHANGELINGS. 



119 



I remained quiet and silent for about ten minutes. 

I Opening the door, they then looked out, and saw the 

I bundle of straw on the heap, but neither child nor fairy. 

'Go into your bed-room, Katty,' said the fairy-man, 

' and see if there's anything left on the bed ! ' She did 

so, and they soon heard a cry of joy, and Katty was 

I among them in a moment, kissing and hugging her own 

I healthy-looking child, who was waking and rubbing his 

I eyes, and wondering at the lights and all the eager 

f faces." ' 

Whether it was the noise made by the child or the 
I incantation that drew the " good people's " attention, we 
I are left in doubt by this story. A Norman woman was, 
j however, advised to make her child cry lustily " in order 
I to bring its real mother to it." And this is probably the 
meaning of the many tales in which the elf is beaten, or 
starved and subjected to other ill-usage, or is threatened 
with death.' In the Pfluckeiistein Lake in Bohemia wild 
women are believed to dwell, ivho, among other attri- 
butes common to elves or fairies, are believed to change 
infants. In order to compel a re-exchange, directions are 
given to bind with a weed growing at the bottom of the 
lake and to beat with a rod of the same, calling out 
therewithal ; "Take thine own and bring me mine." A 
mother in a Little Russian talc had a baby of extraordinary 
, habits. When alone, he jumped out of the cradle, no 
'■ Choice Ndles," p. 27 ; (ihis sccins to have been a common 
L presciiplion in Wales; see "Y Cymmrodor," vol. vi. pji. 175, 
' 178 ; and in the Western IlieUanils : sei; Cainpliell, vol. ii, p. 64-) 
' Bnind, vol. ii. p, 335, note; (this seems also lo be Ihe case in some 
s of Ireland, Ludy Wilde, vol. i. p. 70.) Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 157 j 
I Kennedy, p. 94 ; " Irish Folk Lore," p. 45. 

* Bei^ea — Lay of Marie de France, quoted Keightley, p. 436 ; 
I CostelEo, " Pilgrimage lo Auvergne," vol. ii. p. 294, quoted Keighlley, 
I" p. 471 ; Fleuty, p. 6a, citing Bosqnet, " Normandie Romanesque " ; 
I Howells, p. 139; Aubrey, "Remains," p, 30; Jahn, pp. 98, loi i 
Kuhn nnd Schwarti, p. zg ; Craker, p. Si. Slarved, beaten, ^'c. — 
I Croker, p. 77. Threalaud ta be ij/iVrf— Sibillot, "Trail, cl S^-^fct." 
fcTot. i. p. 118; "Coates," vol. i. p. 28, voL ii, p. 76 1 Cwrao^.'S. K- 



I 



120 THE SCIENCE OK FAIRV TALES. 

longer a baby but a bearded old man, gobbled up the food 
out of the stove, and then lay down again a screeching 
babe. A wise woman who was consulted placed him on 
a block of wood and began to chop the block under his 
feet. He screeched and she chopped ; he screeched and 
she chopped ; until he became an old man again and 
made the enigmatical confession t "I have transformed 
myself not once nor twice only. I was first a fish, then I 
became a bird, an ant, and a quadruped, and now I have 
once more made trial of being a human being. It isn't 
better thus than being among the ants ; but among 
human beings — it isn't worse ! " Here the chopping was 
evidently a threat to ki!I. Nor, if we may trust the 
stories, was this threat always an empty one. The 
changeling fashioned out of a broom in the Lithuanian 
story already cited, was disposed of, by the parish priest's 
advice, by hewing its head off. The reason given by the 
holy man was thai it was not yet four and twenty hours 
old, and it would not be really alive until the expiration 
of that time. Accordingly wheil the neck was severed 
nothing but a wisp of straw was found inside, though 
blood flowed as if there were veins." 

But even more truculent methods are represented by 
the story-tellers as resorted to to free the afflicted house- 
hold. Nothing short of fire is often deemed sufficient for 
the purpose. There werevarious methods of applying it. 
Sometimes we are told of a shovel being made red-hot 
and held before the child's face ; sometimes he is seated 
on it and flung out into the dung-pit, or into the oven ; 
or again, the poker would be heated to mark the sign of 
the cross on his forehead, or the tongs to take him by the 
nose. Or he is thrown bodily on the fire, or suspended 
over it in a creel or a pot ; and in the north of Scotland 
the latter must be hung from a piece of the branch of a 
hazel tree. In this case we are told that if the chill 
screamed it was a changeling, and it was held fast to pre- 

' Crohmann, p. 13$ 1 Wriitislaw, p, i6\ 1 StVAtvdiei, ^, qx. 

■^VT-V' ... ^ 



I 

I 

I 



CHANGELINGS. 12 1 

I vent its escape. Generally, however, it is related that the 
elf flies up the chimney, and when safely at the top he stops 

I to make uncomplimentary remarks upon his persecutors. 
In the Nithsdale story which I have already cited, the 
servant girl at midnight covers up the chimney and every 
other inlet, makes the embers glowing hot, and undress- 
ing the changeling tosses it on them. In answer to its 
yetls the fairies are heard moaning and rattling at the 
window boards, the chimney-head, and the door. "In 
the name o' God, bring back the bairn,'' she exclaims. In 
a moment up flew the window, the human child was laid 
unharmed on the mother's lap, while its guilty substitute 
flew up the chimney with a loud laugh." 

Frightful as this cruelty would seem to every one if 
perpetrated on the mothcr'sown offspring, it was regarded 
with equanimity as applied to a goblin ; and it is not more 
frightful tliaTi what has been actually perpetrated on 
young children, and that within a very few years, under 
the belief that they were beings of a different race. 
Instances need not be multiplied ; it will be enough to 
show that one of the horrible methods of disposing of 
changehngs referred to in the last paragraph came under 
judicial notice no longer ago than the month^nLMay^i 884. . 
Two women were reported in the " Daily Telegraph " as 
having been arrested at Clonmel on the 17th of that 
month, charged with cruelly ill-treating a child three 
years old. The evidence given was to the effect that the 
neighbours fancied that the child, who had not the use 
of his limbs, was a changeling. During the mother's 
absence the prisoners "accordingly entered her house and 
placed the child naked on a hot shovel, "under the im- 
pression that this would break the charm," As might 

' " Y Brython," vol. ii, p. 20 ; Kennedy, p. 90 ; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 

174 ; Napier, p. 40 ; Lady Wilde, vol. i. pp. 72, 171 ; Keighlley, p. 

393 i " Revue des Tiad, I'up." vol. lii. p. 162 ( Campliell, vol. ii, pp. 

47, 61 ; Croker, p. 65 ; Chambers, p. 70 ; " F. L. Jqurnal," vol, i, g, 

I 56; Gre^r, pp. £, 9; Cromek, p. 246. 



122 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

have been expected the poor Httle thing was severely 
burnt, and, when the women were apprehended, it was 
in a precarious condition. The prisoners, on being 
remanded, were hooted by an indignant crowd. It might 
be thought that this was an indication of the decay of 
superstition, even in Ireland, however much to be con- 
demned as an outburst of feeling against unconvicted and 
even untried persons. But we must regard it rather as a 
protest against the prisoners' inhumanity than against 
their superstition : in either case, of course, the product 
^ of advancing civilization. For if we may trust the 
^ ' witness of other sagas we find the trial by fire commuted 
to a symbolic act, as though men had begun to be 
revolted by the cruelty, even when committed only on a 
fairy who had been found out, but were unwilling to 
abandon their belief in the power of the exorcism. In 
the north-east of Scotland, for example, where a beggar, 
who had diagnosed a changeling, was allowed to try his 
hand at disposing of it, he made a large fire on the hearth 
and held a black hen over it till she struggled, and finally 
escaped from his grasp, flying out by the " lum." More 
minute directions are given by the cunning man in a 
Glamorganshire tale. After poring over his big book, he 
told his distracted client to find a black hen without a 
single feather of any other colour. This she was to bake 
(not living, but dead, as appears by the sequel) before a 
fire of wood (not, as usual, of peat), with feathers and all 
intact. Every window and opening was to be closed, 
except one — presumably the chimney ; and she was not 
to watch the crimhil^ or changeling, until the hen had 
been done enough, which she would know by the falling 
r off of all her feathers. The more knowing woman, in an 
Irish story, attributes the fact of the infant's being changed 
to the Evil Eye ; and her directions for treatment require 
the mother to watch for the woman who has given it the 
Evil Eye, inveigle her into the house and cut a piece 
secretly out of her cloak. This piece of the cloak was 



CHANGELINGS. 



"23 



then to be burnt close to the child until the smoke made 
him sneeze, when the spell would be broken and her own 
child restored. The writer who records this talc mentions 
the following mode of proceeding as a common one, 
namely : to place the babe in the middle of the cabin 
and light a fire round it, fully expecting ic to be changed 
into a sod of turf, but manifestly not intending to do 
bodily barm to it independently of any such change. In 
Carnar\'onshire a clergyman is credited with telling a 
mother to cover a shovel with salt, mark a cross in the 
salt, and burn it in the chamber where the child was, 
judiciously opening the ivindow first.' It is satisfactory 
to know that, so far as the recorded cases go, the ceremony 
lost nothing of its power by being thus toned down. 

Fire, however, was not the only element efficacious for 
turning to flight these troublesome aliens. . Water's 
antagonism to witches is notorious ; and ample use was 
niade of it in the old witch trials. U is equally obnoxious 
to fairies and their congeners. In a Welsh story from 
Radnorshire, when the mother has been by the egg-shell 
device convinced of the exchange of her own twin chil- 
dren, she takes the goblin twins and flmgs them into 
Llyn Ebyr ; but their true kinsmen clad m blue trousers 
(their usual garb) save them, and the mother reteives her 
own again. In other tales she drops the tttUT; into the 
river ; but in one case the witch who has been credited 
with the change bathes the child at a mountain spout, or 
pistyll, and exacts a promise from the mother to duck him 
in cold water every morning for three months. It is not 
. very surprising to learn that " at the end of that time 
there was no finer infant in the Cwm." ' 

" Daily Telegraph," 19 May 1884 ; Gregor, p. 61 ; Lady Wikle, 

i. pp. 38, 173 ; " Y Cymmrodor," vol. vi. p. aog, vol. v. p. 72. 

"Cambrian Quarlerly," vol. ii. p. 86, quoted, Sikes, p. 59! "V 

I Cymmrodor," vol. iv. p. 20S, vol. vi. pp. 172, 203. Mr. Sikes refers 

:e In whieli the child ivas 1)allied in a solution 0% foxglove as 

I havii^ actually occurred in Carnarvonshire in i8j7, but he gives no 

dldioritj. 



124 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 



There is an oft -quoted passage in Luther's " Table 
Talk," in which he relates that he told the Prince of 
Anhalt that if he were prince he would \'eiilure fiomi- 
cidt'iim upon a certain changeling with which he had 
been brought into contact, and throw it into the river 
.- -Moldaw. The great Reformer was only on a level with 
his countrymen in their superstitions in reference to 
changelings, or Kilkrops, as they were then called. I 
have already quoted his opinion of them as devils ; and 
the test of their true nature, which he seems to have 
thought infallible, was their inordinate appetite ; nor did 
he attach any value to baptism as a" mc~ans of exorcism. 
One excellent tale he tells on the subject concerns a 
peasant who lived near Halberstadt, in Saxony. This 
good man, in accordance with advice, was taking the 
child to Halberstadt to be rocked at the shrine of the 
Virgin Mary, when in crossing a river another devil that 
was below in the river called out " Killcrop ! Killcrop ! " 
Then, says Luther, the child in the basket, that had never 
before spoken one word, answered "Ho, ho!" The 
devil in the water asked, " Whither art thou going ? " 
and the child replied, " I am going to Halberstadt to our 
Loving Mother, to be rocked." In his fright the man 
threw the basket containing the child over the bridge 
into the water, whereupon the two devils flew away 
together and cried " Ho, ho, ha ! " tumbling themselves 
one over another, and so vanished.' This may be taken 
as a type of many a story current in North Germany and 
the neighbouring Slavonic lands. It is not, however, 
unknown in this coimtry. Mr. Hunt has versified a 
Cornish tale in which the mother took her brat to the \ 
t round sloi 



chapel 11 



1 plui 



1 pass il 



' QuDlec] in Soulhuy, loc, til. MiillcnholT relates a similar la! 
Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 46 ; a'so Urohmann, p. 126 1 Kuhn iind Schwartz, J 
p. 30. Bowker, p. 73, telales a slury euilKxlying a similar episodcr. I 
but appnrenlly connecteii with Wild Hunt legends. See his note, ibid, J 



CHANGELINGS. 1*5 

three times against the sun, as she had been advised to 
do on the first three Wednesdays in the month of May. 
Reaching the top of the hill on one of these occasions, she 
heard a shrill voice in her ear : " Tredrill, Tredrill ! thy 
wife and children greet thee well." The little one of 
course replied, much to her astonishment, repudiating all 
concern for his wife and children, and intimating his 
enjoyment of the life he was leading, and the spell that 
was being wrought in his behalf. In the end she got rid 
of him by the homely process of beating and leaving him 
on the ground near the old church stile. A Sutherland- 
shire tradition tells of a child less than a year old who 
suddenly addressed his mother in verse as he was being 
carried through a wild glen. Translated, the youth's 
impromptu lines run thus : — 

" Many is the Jun hummel cow 
(Each having a calf) 
In the opposile dun elen, 

Wtliout the aid of dog. 
Or man, or woman, or gillie. 
One mftn eseepled, 
And he grey " 

At that moment his remarks were interrupted by the 
terrified woman throwing him down in the plaid which 
wrapt him, and scampering home, where to her joy she 
found her true babe smiling in the cradle.' 

These verses carry us back to the egg-shell episode, from 
which the consideration of the means adopted to drive 
away the intrusive goblin has diverted us. They contain ' 
a vague assertion of age like those then before us, but 
not a hint of laughter. Nor have we found anything 
throughout the whole discussion to favour Simrock's 
suggestion, or to shake the opinion that the dissolution 
of the fairy spell was derived either from the vexation of 
Jhe supernatural folk at their own self- betrayal, or from 
■ lluBl, p. 91 i "- f. L- Jourati\," vol. N\. ^. v'&^■ 



126 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

the disclosure to the human foster-parents of the true 
state of the facts, and their consequent determination to 
exorcise the demon. 

It is true we have a few more stories to examine, but we 
shall find that they all confirm this conclusion. The 
cases we have yet to deal with, except the first, exhibit 

, a different and much more humane treatment of the 
changeling than the foregoing. The case excepted is 
found in Carnarvonshire, where one infallible method of 
getting rid of the child was to place it on the floor and 
let all present in the house throw a piece of iron at it. 
The old woman who mentioned this to Professor Rhys 
conjectured that the object was to convince the Tylwyth 
/ Teg^ or fairy people, of the intention to kill the babe, in 
order to induce them to bring the right child back.^ 
This would be the same motive as that which threatened 
death by fire or other ill-usage, in some of the instances 

/mentioned above. But we could not thus account for the 
requirement that iron, and only iron, was to be used ; and 
here we have, in fact, a superstition carefully preserved, 
while its meaning has quite passed out of memory. In a 
future chapter we shall examine the attitude of mythical 
beings in folk-lore to metals, and especially to iron ; in 
the meantime we may content ourselves with noting this 
addition to the examples we have already met with of 
the horror with which they regarded it. 

So far from its being always deemed wise to neglect 
or injure the changeling, it was not infrequently sup- 
posed to be necessary to take, the greatest care of it, 
thereby and by other means to propitiate its elvish tribe. 
This was the course pursued with the best results by a 
Devonshire mother ; and a woman at Straussberg, in 
North Germany, was counselled by all her gossips to 
act lovingly, and above all not to beat the imp, lest her 
own little one be beaten in turn by the underground 
folk. So in a Hessian tale mentioned by Grimm, a 

* " Y Cymmrodor," vol, vi. p. i8i. 



I 



CHANGELIXGS. 12'J 

< wicblel-wifc caught almost in the act of kidnapping 
refused to give up thi; babe until the woman had placed 
the changed one to her breast, and " nourished it for 
once with the generous milk of human kind." In 
Ireland, even when the child is placed on a dunghill, 
•the charm recited under the direction of the "fairy- 
man " promises kindly entertainment in future for the 
"gambolling crew," if they will only undo what tliey 
have done. A method in favour in the north of Scot- 
land is to take the suspected elf to some known haunt 
of its race, generally, we are told, some spot where 
pecuhar soughing sounds are heard, or to some barrow, 
or stone circle, and lay it down, repeating ceitain in- 
cantations the while. What the words of these incan- 
tations are we are not informed, but we learn that an 
offering of bread, butter, m.ilk, cheese, eggs, and flesh 
of fowl must accompany the cluld. The parents then 
retire for an hour or two, or mitil after midnight ; and 
if on returning these things have disappeared, they con- 
clude that the (jffcring is accepted and their own child 
returned.^Lv! 

Neither ill-usage nor kindness, neitlier neglect nor pro- 
pitiation, was sometimes prescribed and acted upon, but 
— harder than either — a journey to Fairyland to fetch 
back the captive. A man on the island of Rugen, whose 
carelessness had occasioned the loss of his chiliJ, watched 
until the underground dwellers sallied forth on another 
raid, when he hastened to the mouth of the hole that 
led into their realm, and went boldly down. There 
in the Underworld he found the cliild, and thus the 
robbers were forced to take their own again instead. 
In a more detailed narrative from Islay, the father arms 
himself with a Bible, a dirk, and a crowing cock, and 
having found the hill where the "Good People" had 
their abode open, and filled with the lights and sounds 
Mrs. Bray, vol. i. p. 167 ; Kuhn, p. 196 ; Giimm, " Ttul. Mylh." 
(68, note ; " Iiish F. I.." p. 45 ; Napier, p. ^, 



128 



THE SCIENCE OF FATRV TAI 



of festival, he approached and stuck ihe dirk into the 
threshold. The object of this was to prevent the 
entrance from closing upon him. Then he steadily ad- 
vanced, protected from harm by the Bible at his breast. 
Within, his boy (who was thirteen or fourteen years of 
age) was working at the forge ; but when the man 
demanded him the elves burst into a loud laugh, which 
aroused the cock in his arms. The cock, at once leaped 
upon his shoulders, flapped his wings, and crowed loud 
and long. The enraged elves thereupon cast the man 
and his son both out of the hill, and flung the dirk after 
them ; and in an instant all was dark. It should be 
added that for a year and a day afterwards the boy did 
no ivork, and scarcely spoke ; but he ultimately became 
a very famous smith, the inventor of a specially fine and 
well-tempered sword. The changeling himself in one of 
Lady Wilde's tales directs his foster-mother to Fairyland. 
The way thither was down a well ; and she was led by 
the portress, an old woman, into the royal palace. There 
the queen admits that she stole the child, " for he was 
so beautiful," and put her own instead. The re-exchange 
is effected, and the good woman is feasted with food which 
the fairies cannot touch, because it has been sprinkled 
with salt. When she found herself again at home, she 
fancied she had only been away an hour : it was three 
years.' 

But it was not always necessary to incur the risk of 
going as far as the other world. The Glamorganshire 
woman, whose successful cooking of a black hen has 
been already referred to, had first to go at full moon to a 
place where four roads met, and hide herself to watch thei 
fairy procession which passed at midnight. There in the: 
midst of the music and the BendHh eu mammati she] 
beheld her own dear little child. One of the 
interesting changeling stories was gravely related i 
"Irish Fireside" for the 7th of January 1 884, concern in j 
'/a/in, p. 52; Campbell, vol. ii. ?■ 47 ; Lady Wilde, vol. 



he^^l 
he^^l 
id-^ 



I 



I 



CHANGELINGS. I29 

ta land-leaguer who had been imprisoned as a suspect 
J'uiider the then latest Coercion Act. When this patriot 
f was a boy he had been stolen by the fairies, one of ihem- 
[ selves having been left in his place. The parish priest, 
F however, interfered ; and by a miracle he caused the elf 
I for a moment to disappear, and the boy to return to tell 
' i conditions on which his captii'ity might be 
ended. The information given, the goblin again re- 
placed the true son ; but the good priest was now able 
to deal effectually with the matter. The imp was 
a«:ordingly dipped thrice in Lough Lane (a small lake in 
the eastern part of Westmeath), when "a curl came on 
the water, and up from the deep came the naked form 
of the boy, who walktd on the water to meet his father 
on shore. The father wrapped his overcoat about his 
son, and commenced his homeward march, accompanied 
by a line of soldiers, who also came out of the lake. 
The boy's mother was enjoined not to speak until the 
rescuing party would reach home. She accidentally 
spoke ; and immediately the son dropped a tear, and 
forced himself out of his father's arms, piteously ex- 
claiming ; ' Father, father, my mother spoke I You 
cannot keep me. I must go.' He disappeared, and, 
reaching home, the father found the sprite again on the 
hearth." The ghostly father's services were called into 
requisition a second time ; and better luck awaited an 
effort under his direction after the performance of a 
second miracle like the first. For this time the mother 
succeeded in holding her tongue, notwithstanding that 
at every stream on the way home from the lake the car 
on which the boy was carried was upset, and he himself 
'feinted.' This is declared to have happened no longer 
ago than the year 1869. The writer, apparently a pious 
, Roman Catholic, who vouches for the fact, probably never 
I heard the touching tale of Orpheus and Eurydicc. 

The foregoing story, as well as some of those previously 
■ ! " F, L. JimrnaJ," voL ii. p. 91, quoting vhe " ln4\i¥"\'^ts^^n" 



I 



130 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 

mentioned, shows that fairy depredations were by no 
means confined to babes and young children. Indeed 
adults were often carried off ; and, although this chapter 
is already far too long, I cannot close it without briefly 
examining a few such cases. Putting aside those, then, 
in which hoys or young men have been taken, as already 
sufficiently discussed, all the other cases of robbery, . 
distinguished from seduction or illusion, are concerned 
with matrons. The elfin race were supposed to be on 
the watch for unchurched or unsained mothers to have 
thebenefit of their milk. In one instance the captive was 
reputed to have freed herself by promising in exchange 
her husband's best marc under milk, which was retained 
by the captors imtil it was exhausted and almost dead. 
More usually the story relates that a piece of wood is 
carved in the likeness of the lady and laid in her place, 
the husband and friends being deceived into believing 
it to be herself. A man returning home at night over- 
hears the supernatural beings at work. He listens and 
catches the words ; " Mak' it red cheekit an' red lippit 
like the smith o' Bonnykelly's wife." Mastering the 
situation he runs off to the smith's house, and sains the 
new mother and her babe. And he is only just in time, 
for hardly has he finished than a great thud is heard 
outside. On going out a piece of bog-fir is found, — the 
image the fairies intended to substitute for the smith's 
wife. In North German and Danish tales it is the 
husband who overhears the conspirators at work, and he I 
often has coolness enough to watch their proceedings ] 
on his return home and, bouncing out upon them, 1 
to catch them just as they are about to complete their ] 
crime. Thus, one clever fellow succeeded in retaining I 
both his wife and the image already put into her bed, ] 
which he thrust into the oven to blaze and crackle in the j 
sight and hearing of his wife's assembled friends, who 1 
supposed he was burning her until he produced her to J 
their astooished gaze. A tale fvoia Badenoch representftj 



I 



CHANCELINKS. 13! 

le man as discovering ttie fraud from finding his wife, 
woman of unruffled temper, suddenly turned a shrew. 
he piles up a great fire and threatens to throw the 
occupant of the bed upon it unless she tells him what 
has become of his own wife. She then confesses that the 
latter has been carried off, and she has been appointed 
succes.sor ; but by his determination he happily succeeds 
in recapturing his own at a certain fairy knoll near 
Inverness.' 

It happens occasionally that these victims of elfin 
gallantry are rescued by other men than their husbands. 
A smith at work one day hears a great moaning and 
sobbing out of doors. Looking out he sees a troll 
driving a pregnant woman before him, and crying to her 
continually ; " A little further yet ! a little further yet ! " 
He instantly springs forward with a red-hot iron in his 
hand, which he holds between the troll and his thrall, 
so that the former has to abandon her and take to flight. 
The smith then took the woman under his protection, 
and the same night she was delivered of twins. Going 
to the husband to console him for his loss, he is sur- 
prised to find a woman exactly resembling his friend's 
wife in her bed. He saw how the matter stood, and 
seizing an axe he killed the witch on the spot, and 
restored to the husband his real wife and new-born 
children. This is a Danish legend ; but there is a High- 
land one very similar to it. A man meets one night a 
troop of fairies with a prize of some sort. Recollecting 
that fairies are obliged to exchange whatever they may 
have with any one who offers them anything, no matter 
what its value, for it, he flings his bonnet to them, calling 
out; "Mine is yours, and yours is mine!" The prize 
which they dropped turned out to be an English lady 
whom they had carried off, leaving in her place a stock, 
which, of course, died and was buried. The Sassenach 
' Grcgor, p. 62 ; Thorpe, vol. li. p. 139, quoting Thiele ; vol, iii. 
p. 41, quotii^ MiilUtihoff; Campbell, vol. ii. p. 6l ■, Cvam^, ^, la^ 



132 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

woman lived for some years in the Highlander's house, 
until the captain in command of an English regiment 
came to lodge in his house with his son, while the 
soldiers were making new roads through the country. 
There the son recognized his mother, and the father his 
wife long mourned as dead.^ 

The death and burial of changelings, though, as here, 
occurring in the tales, are not often alluded to ; and there 
are grounds for thinking them a special deduction of 
the Scottish mind. Sometimes the incident is ghastly 
enough to satisfy the devoted lover of horrors. The 
west of Scotland furnishes an instance in which the 
exchange was not discovered until after the child^s 
apparent death. It was buried in due course ; but sus- 
picion having been aroused, the grave and coffin were 
opened, and not a corpse but only a wooden figure was 
found within. A farmer at Kintraw, in Argyllshire, 
lost his wife. On the Sunday after the funeral, when he 
and his servants returned from church, the children, 
who had been left at home, reported that their mother 
had been to see them, and had combed and dressed them. 
The following Sunday they made the same statement, 
in spite of the punishment their father had thought 
proper to inflict for telling a lie on the first occasion. 
The next time she came the eldest child asked her why 
she came, when she said that she had been carried off 
by " the good people," and could only get away for an 
hour or two on Sundays, and should her coffin be opened 
it would be found to contain nothing but a withered 
leaf. The minister, however, who ridiculed the story, 
refused to allow the coffin to be opened ; and when, 
some little time after, he was found dead near the Fairies* 
Hill, above Kintraw, he was held by many to be. a victim 
to the indignation of the fairy Avorld he had laughed 
at. Sir Walter Scott mentions the tale of a farmer's 

' Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 133, quoting Thiele; Keightley, p. 391, quoting 
Stewart, ** The Popular Superstitions of the Highlanders," 



CHANGELINGS. 



■33 



[ Tvife in Lothian, who, after being carried off by the feiries, 

I reappeared repeatedly on Sunday to her children, and 

V combed their hair. On one of these occasions the 

husband met her, and was told that there was one way 

to recover her, namely, by lying in wait on Hallowe'en 

for the procession of fairies, and stepping boldly out, and 

seizing her as she passed among them. At the moment 

^ of execution, however, his heart failed, and he lost his 

wife for ever. In connection with this, Scott refers to a 

real event which happened at the town of North Berwick. 

vidower, who was paying addresses with a view to 

I second marriage, was troubled by dreams of his former 

I wife, to whom he had been tenderly attached. One 

I morning he declared to the minister that she had 

I appeared to him the previous night, stating that she was 

a captive in Fairyland, and begged him to attempt her 

deliverance. The mode she prescribed was to bring the 

minister and certaia others to her grave at midnight to 

[ up her body, and recite certain prayers, after which 

w the corpse would become animated and fiee from him. 

'as to be pursued by the swiftest runner in the parish, 

' and if he could catch it before it had encircled the 

church thrice, the rest were to conic to his help and hold 

it notwithstanding its struggles, and the shapes into 

which it might be transformed. In this way she would 

be redeemed. The minister, however, declined to take 

part in so absurd and indecent a proceeding.' 

Absurd and indecent it would undoubtedly have been 
to unearth a dead body in the expectation of any such 
result ; but it would have been entirely in harmony with 
current superstition. The stories and beliefs examined in 
the present chapter prove that there has been no super- 
stition too gross, or too cruel, to survive into the midst 
of the civilization of the nineteenth century ; and the 
exhumation of a corpse, of the two, is less barbarous than 
' Napier, p. 41 ; Lord A. Campbell, "Waifs and Slrays," p. 1i\ 
"Boidei Minstrelq'," toL ii. p. ijj. 



134 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

the torture by fire of an innocent child. The flight, 
struggles, and transformation of a bespelled lady are found 
both in mdrchen and saga : some examples of the latter 
will come under our notice in a future chapter. 



CHAPTER VI. 



ROBBERIES FROM FAIRYLAND. 



I The tale of Elidorus— Celtic and Teulonic stories of Iheft from sapet- 
natutal beings— The thief unsuccessful — Cases of succeasfnl rohbery 
^Robbery from the king of the seqwnts — Robbery of a ilrinlciTig- 
cup, or hom^ — The hnrn of Oldenburg and similar vessels — ^The 
Luck of Eilenhall — The cup of Uallailetcher — These vessels 
GOCrificiaX and pogan. 

The earliest writers who allude to the Welsh fairy tradi- 
tions are Giraidus Cambrensis and Walter Map, two 
members of that constellation of literary men which 
rendered brilliant the early years of the Plantagenet 
dynasty. Giraidus, with whom alone we have to do in 
this chapter, lays the scene of what is perhaps his most 
famous story near Swansea, and states that the adventures 
narrated occurred a short time before his own days. The 
story concerns one Elidorus, a priest, upon whose per- 
sistent declarations it is founded. This good man in his 
youth ran away from the discipline and frequent stripes 
I of his preceptor, and hid himself under the hollow bank 
of a river. There he remained fasting for two days ; and 
then two men of pigmy stature appeared, and invited 
I him to come with them, and they would lead him into a 
' country full of dehghts and sports. A more powerful 
I temptation could not have been offered to a runaway 
I schoolboy of twelve years old ; and the invitation was 
I speedily accepted. He accompanied his guides into a 
subterranean land, where he found a people of small 
I stature but pure morals. He was brought into the pre- 
r sence of the king, and by him handed ove'cto\vi'i'aiiW,'«\vc. 



136 THEi SCillNCE Oy' FAIRY TALES. 

was then a boy. In that land he dwelt for some time ; 
but he often used to return by various paths to the upper 
day, and on one of these occasions he made himself 
known to his mother, declaring to her the nature, 
manners, and state of the pigmy folk. She desired him 
to bring her a present of gold, which was plentiful in 
that region ; and he accordingly stole a golden ball 
while at play with the king^s son, and ran off with it to 
his mother, hotly pursued. Reaching home, his foot 
stumbled on the threshold, and, dropping the ball, he 
fell into the room where his mother was sitting. The 
two pigmies who had followed him at once seized the ball 
and made off with it, not without expressing their con- 
tempt for the thief who had returned their kindness 
with such ingratitude ; and Elidorus, though he sought 
it carefully with penitence and shame, could never again 
find the way into the underground realm'.* 

Narratives of the theft of valuables from supernatural 
beings are found all the world over. In this way, for 
example, in the mythology of more than one nation man- 
kind obtained the blessing of fire. Such tales, however, 
throw but little light on this one of Elidorus ; and it will 
therefore be more profitable in considering it to confine 
our attention to those generally resembling it current 
among Celts and Teutons. They are very common ; and 
the lesson they usually teach is that honesty is the best 
policy — at all events, in regard to beings whose power is 
not bounded by the ordinary human limitations. Begin- 
ning with South Wales, we find one of these tales told 
by the Rev. Edward Davies, a clergyman in Gloucester- 
shire at the beginning of this century, who was the author 
of two curious works on Welsh antiquities, stuffed with 
useless, because misdirected, learning. The tale in ques- 
tion relates to a small lake *' in the mountains of 
Brecknock," concerning which we are informed that 
every Mayday a certain door in a rock near the lake was 

' Girald. Cambr., I. i. c. 8. 



^H four 



I 



)M FAIRYLAND. 137 

found open. He who was bold enough to enter was led 
by a secret passage to a small island, otherwise invisible, 
the middle of the lake. This was a fairy island, a 
garden of enchanting beauty, inhabited by the Tylwyth 
Teg (or Fair Family), and stored with fruits and flowers. 
The inhabitants treated their visitors with lavish hos- 
pitality, but permitted nothing to be carried away. One 
day this prohibition was violated by a visitor, who put 
into his pocket a flower with which he had been presented. 
The Fair Family showed no outward resentment. Their 
guests were dismissed with the accustomed courtesy ; but 
the moment he who had broken their behest " touched 
unhallowed ground " the flower disappeared, and he lost 
his senses. Nor has the mysterious door ever been found 
again.' 

In both these cases the thief is unsuccessful, and the 
punishment of his crime is the loss of fairy intercourse ; 
perhaps the mildest form which punishment could take. 
But sometimes the chevalier d'industrie is lucky enough 
to secure his spoils. It is related that certain white 
ghosts were in the habit of playing by night at skittles 
on a level grass-plot on the Luningsberg, near Aerzen, in 
North Germany. A journeyman weaver, who was in 
love with a miller's daughter, but lacked the means to 
marry her, thought there could be no harm in robbing 
the ghosts of one of the golden balls with which they 
used to play. He accordingly concealed himself one 
evening ; and when the harmless spectres came out he 
seized one of their balls, and scampered away with it, 

' Davies, '' Mythology," p. 155. Mr. Wirt Sikes quotes this slory 
without ncknowledginent, slating that the l^end, " varying hut little 
in phiaEcology, is current !□ the neighhourhood of a dozen different 

I mountain lakes." As if he had collected it himself I (Sikes, p. 45). 

I Compare an Eskimo story of a. girl who, having acquired angakok 
power, visited the inpunuit, or undetgrounti folk, " and received 

1 presents from them ; but while carrying them homewards the gifts were 
wafied out of her hands and flevf back to their tirst owners " (Rink, 

kp-4fo). 



r- 



138 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

followed by the angry owners. A stream crossed his 
path, and, missing the plank bridge which spanned it, he 
sprang into the Avater. This saved him, for the spirits 
had no power there ; and a merry wedding was the 
speedy sequel of his adventure. In like manner a fairy, 
who, in a Breton saga, was incautious enough to winnow 
gold in broad daylight in a field where a man was 
pruning beeches, excited the latter^s attention by this 
singular proceeding ; and the man possessed himself of 
the treasure by simply flinging into it a hallowed rosary. 
In Germany the water-nix has the reputation of being 
a good shoemaker. It is related that a man, who once saw 
a nix on the shore of the March busy at his work, threw a 
rosary upon it. The nix disappeared, leaving the shoe ; 
and a variant states that the shoe was so well made that 
the owner wore out successively twelve other shoes which 
he had caused to be made to match it, without its being 
any the worse.^ 

We have already seen in the last chapter that the 
performance of Christian rites and the exhibition of 
Christian symbols and sacred books have a powerful 
effect against fairies. But further, the invocation, or 
indeed the simple utterance, of a sacred name has always 
been held to counteract enchantments and the wiles of all 
supernatural beings who are not themselves part and 
parcel of what*I may, without offence and for want of a 
better term, call the Christian mythology, and who may 
therefore at times, if not constantly, be supposed to be 
hostile to the Christian powers and to persons under 
their protection. These beliefs are, of course, in one 
form or another part of the machinery of every religion. 
The tales just quoted are examples of the potency of a 
symbol. A North German story is equally emphatic as 
to the value of a holy name. We are told that late one 

' Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 120, apparently quoting Harry's *' Sagen, 
Marchen und Legenden Niedersachsens"; Sebillot, "Trad, et Sup." 
vol. I. p. 11$ ; '' Zeits. f. Volksk." vol. u. p. \\^^ <\\xot.mg Vernaleken. 



ROBBERIES FROM FAIRYLAND, 



M9 



evening a boy saw a great number of hares dancing and 

leaping. Now hares are_speciaUy witch- possessed animals. 
As he stood and watched them one of them sprang 
towards him and tried to bite his leg. But he said : " Go 
away I thou art not of God, but of the devil." Instantly 
the whole company vanished ; but he heard a doleful 
voice exclaiming : " My silver beaker, my silver beaker I " 
On reaching home he told his adventure ; and his father 
at once started back with him to the place, where they 
found a silver beaker inscribed with a name neither they 
nor the goldsmith, to whom they sold the goblet for a 
large sum of money, could read. The district whence 
this story comes furnishes us also with an account of a 
man who, being out late one night, came upon a fire sur- 
rounded by a large circle of women sitting at a table. He 
ventured to seat himself among them. Each one had 
brought something for the meal ; and a man-cook went 
round them asking each what, she had got. When he 
came to the hero of the story the latter struck him with 
his stick, saying : " I have a blow which our Lord God 
gave the devil." Thereupon the whole assembly dis- 
appeared, leaving nothing behind but the kettle which 
hung over the fire, and which the man took and long 
preserved to testify the truth of his story. A Cornish 
fisherman was scarcely less lucky witliout the protection 
of a pious exclamation. For one night going home he 
found a crowd of "little people" on the beach. They 
were sitting in a semicircle holding their hats towards 
one of their number, who was pitching gold pieces from 
a heap into them. The fisherman contrived to introduce 
his hat among them without being noticed, and having 
got a share of the money, made off with it. He was fol- 
lowed by the piskies, but had a good start, and managed 
to reach home and shut the door upon them. Yet so 
rrow was his escape that he left the tails of his sea-coat 
in their hands.' 

* Kuhn unU Schwaiii, pp. 305, 306 ; " QuAm'KcAMi^ *(• 1*^ 



140 



TIlE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 



Vengeance, however, is sometimes swift and sure upon 
these robberies. It is believed in Germany that the king 
of the snakes is wont to come out to sun himself at noon ; 
and that he then lays aside his crown, a prize for any one 
who can seize it. A horseman, coming at the opportune 
moment, did so once ; but the serpent-king called forth his 
subjects and pursued him. By the help of his good steed 
the man succeeded in arriving at home ; and, thankful to 
have escaped the danger, he patted the beast's neck as he 
jumped down, saying i " Faithfully hast thou helped me 1 " 
At that instant a snake, which had hidden herself un- 
noticed in the horse's tail, bit the man ; and little joy had 
he of his crime. In another story the girl who steals the 
crown is deafened by the cries of her victim ; and else- 
where, when the serpent-king is unable to reach the 
robber, he batters his own head to pieces in ineffectual 
rage. Perhaps he deserved his fate in some of these 
cases, for it seems he had a foolish liking to lay down his 
crown on a white cloth, or a white, or blue, silk hand- 
kerchief, — a predilection which the robber did not fail to 
provide him with the opportunity of gratifying, and of 
repenting.' 

Other tales represent the thief as compelled to restore 
the stolen goods. Thus a man who found the trolls on 
the Danish isle of Fuur carrying their treasures out into 
the air, shot thrice over them, and thereby forced the 
owners to quit them. He caught up the gold and silver 
and rode off with it, followed by the chief troll. But 
after he got into the house and shut the doors there was 
such a storming and hissing outside, that the whole house 
seemed ablaze. Terrified, he flung the bag wherein he 

■ Niederhofler, vol. iv. p. 130 ; Bartsch, vol. i. p. 378 ; Thorpe, vol. 
iii. p. 56, quotin({ MiillenhofT; Birlinget, " Volkslhumliches," vol. i. 
p. 103 ; Giimm, " Tales," vol. ii. p. 77. A Lusatian tradition qnofed 
by Grimm in a coLe rcpresenls the watersnake- king's crown as i 
only valuahle in ilself, bill like olher fairy properly, the liringer of 
great riches to its possessor. Ibid. 406. C/". a. Hindoo story to the 
same effect, Day, p. 17 ; and many ottei laics. 



'ROM FAIRYLAND. 14! 

had secured the treasures out into the night. The storm 
ceased, and he heard a voice crying : " Thou hast still 
enough." In the morning he found a heavy silver cup, 
which had fallen behind a chest of drawers. Again, a 
farm servant of South Kongerslev, in Denmark, who 
went at his master's instance, on Christmas Eve, to see 
what the trolls in a neighbouring hill were doing, was 
ofTered drink from a golden cup. He took the cup, and 
casting out its contents, spurred his horse from the spot, 
hotly pursued. On the way back he passed the dwelling 
of a band of trolls at enmity with those from whom he 
had stolen the cup. Counselled by them, he took to the 
ploughed field, where his pursuers were unable to follow 
him, and so escaped. The farmer kept the goblet until 
the following Christmas Eve, when his wife imprudently 
helped a tattered beggar to beer in it. It is not wonder- 
ful that both the cup and the beggar vanished ; but we 
are to understand that the beggar was a troll. Perhaps 
he was. In Thyholm, a district of Denmark, there is a 
range of lofty mounds formerly inhabited by trolls. 
Some peasants who were once passing by these mounds 
prayed the trolls to give them some beer. In a moment 
a little creature came out and presented a large silver can 
to one of the men, who had no sooner grasped it than he 
set spurs to his horse, with the intention of keeping it. 
But the little man of the mound was too quick for him, 
for he speedily caught him and compelled him to return 
the can. In a Pomeranian story the underground folk 
forestalled the intention to rob them on the part of a 
farmer's boy whose thirst they had quenched with a can 
of delicious brown-beer. Having drunk, he hid the can 
itself, with the object of taking it home when his day's 
work was done, for it was of pure silver ; but when he 
afterwards went to look for it, it had disappeared.' 

Moreover, ungrateful mortals are sometimes punished, 
' Thorpe, vol. li. pp. 148, 146, i3r, qnotbg Thiele, " Dan marks 
Folkesagn;" Jahn, p. JS. 



143 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

even when they are lucky enough to secure their prize. 
Thus it is told of a man of Zahren, in Mecklenhurg, who 
was seized with thirst on his way home from Penzlin, 
that he lieard music in a barrow known to be the haunt 
of the underground folk. People were then on familiar 
terms with the latter ; and the man cried out and asked 
for a drink. Nor did he ask in vain ; for his appeal was 
at once answered by the appearance of a Uttle fellow with 
a fiask of delicious drink. After slaking his thirst the 
man took the opportunity to make off with the flask ; 
but he was pursued by the whole troop of elves, only o 
of whom, and he had only one leg, succeeded in keeping 
up with him. The thief, however, managed to get over 
a cross-road where One-leg could not follow him ; and 
the latter then, making a virtue of necessity, cried out : 
" Thou mayst keep the flask ; and henceforth always 
drink thereout, for it will never be empty ; but beware 
of looking into it." For some years the elf's injunction 
was observed ; but one day, in a fit of curiosity, the 
peasant looked into the bottom of the flask, and there sat 
a horrid toad ! The toad disappeared, and so did the 
liquor ; and the man in a sliort time fell miserably sick. 
In a Norse tale, a man whose bride is about to be carried 
off by Huldre-folk, rescues her by shooting over her head 
a pistol loaded with a silver bullet. This has the effect 
of dissolving the witchery ; and he is forthwith enabled 
to seize her and gallop off, not unpursued. One of the 
trolls, to retard his flight, held out to him a well-filled 
golden horn. He took the horn, but cast the liquor 
away, and rode away with both horn and girl. The 
trolls, when they found themselves unable to catch him, 
cried after him in their exasperation : " The red cock 
shall crow over thy dwelling ! " And behold 1 his house 
stood in a blaze. Similarly, a Swedish tradition relates 
that one of the serving-men of the lady of Liungby, in 
Scania, one night of Christmas in tiie year 1490, rode 
out to inquire the cause of the noise at the Magle stone. 



I 



ROBBERIES FROM FAIRYLAND. I43 

He found the trolls dancing and making merry. A fair 
troll-woman stepped forth and offered him a drinking- 
horn and a pipe, praying he would drink the troll-king's 
health and blow in the pipe. He snatched iht horn 
and pipe from her, and spurring back to the maitsion, 
delivered them into his lady's hands. The trolls fol-" 
lowed and begged to have their treasures back, promising 
prosperity to the lady's race if she would restore them. 
She kept them, however ; and they are said to be still 
preserved at Liungby as memorials of the adventure. 
But the serving-man who took them died three days 
after, and the horse on the second day ; the mansion has 
been twice burnt, and the family never prospered after. 
On the. eve of the first of May the witches of Germany 
hold high revel. Every year the fields and farmyards of 
a certain landowner were so injured by these nocturnal 
festivities that one of his servants determined to put a 
stop to the mischief Going to the trysting-place, he 
found the witches eating and drinking around a large 
slab of marble which rested on four golden pillars ; and on 
the slab lay a golden horn of wondrous form. The 
sorceresses invited him to join the feast ; but a fellow- 
servant whom he met there warned him not to drink, for 
they only wished to poison him. Wherefore he flung 
the proffered beverage away, seized the horn, and galloped 
home as hard as he could. All doors and gates had been 
left open for him ; and the witches consequently were 
unable to catch him. The next day a gentleman in fine 
clothes appeared and begged his master to restore the 
horn, promising in return to surround his property with 
a wall seven feet high, but threatening, in case of refusal, 
to burn his farms down thrice, and that just when he 
thought himself richest. Three days were allowed to the 
landowner for consideration, but he dechned to restore 
the horn. The next harvest had hardly been housed 
when his barns were in flames. Three times did this 
happen, and the landowner was reduced to ^ONfeit-j. '^■^ 



rI44 1HE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. ^H 

the king's kindness he was enabled to rebuild ; and he ^H 
then made every effort to discover the owner of the horn, .^^^ 
sending it about for that purpose even as far as Constaa- ^^| 
tinople ; but no one could be found to claim it.' ^^M 

Somewhat more courteous was a Danish boy whom an.^^| 



I 



aiden met and offered drink from a costly drinking- 
horn one evening as he rode homeward late from Ristrup 
to Siellevskov. He received the horn, but fearing to 
drink its contents, poured them out behind him, so that, 
as in several of these stories, they fell on the horse's i 
back, and singed the hair off. The horn he held fast, 1 
and the horse probably needed no second hint to start at I 
the top of its speed. The elf-damsel gave chase until 1 
horse and man reached a running water, across whicK j 
she could not follow them. Seeing herself outwitted, she j 
implored the youth to give her back the horn, promising 
hira in reward the strength of twelve men. On this j 
assurance he returned the horn to her, and got what she 1 
had promised him. But the exchange was not very J 
profitable ; for with the strength of twelve men he had I 
unfortunately acquired the appetite of twelve. Here it M 
may well be thought that the supernatural gift only took I 
its appropriate abatement. In a ,'itory from the north (rfl 
Scotland the cup was stolen for the purpose of undoing a.M 
certain spell, and was honourably returned when the-l 
purpose was accomphshed, Uistean, we are told, was a J 
great slayer of Fuathan, supernatural beings apparently I 
akin to fairies. He shot one day into a wreath of mist, M 
and a beautiful woman fell down at his side. He tookB 
her home ; and she remained in his house for a year,. I 
speechless. On a day at the end of the year he was'l 
benighted in the mountains, and seeing a light in al 
hill, he drew nigh, and found the fairies feasting. He J 
entered the hill, and heard the butler, as he was handing;* 
' Bartsch, vol. i. p. 83 (see also p. 41) ; Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 6, quoting, ■ 
Faye, " Norske Folke-sagn " ; ibicl. p, 8g, quoting Afeelins, " Sveoske-M 
Folkets Sago-HsSdei " ; Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 26. ^1 



ROBBERIES FROM FAIRYLAND. 145 

the drink round, say : " It is a year from this night's 

night that we lost the daughter of the Earl of Antrim. 

She has the power of the draught on her that she does 

not speak a word till she gets a drink from the cup that 

is in my hand." When the butler reached Uistean, he 

handed him the cup. The latter, on getting it in his 

hand, ran off, pursued by the fairies until the cock crew. 

When he got home, he gave the lady in his house to 

drink out of the cup ; and immediately her speech 

returned. She then told him she was the Earl of 

Antrim's daughter, stolen by the fairies from child-bed. 

Uistean took back the cup to the hill whence he had 

brought it, and then restored the lady to her father safe 

and sound, the fairy woman who had been left in her 

place vanishing meantime in a flame of fire.^ 

There are also legends in which a hat conferring 

invisibility, or a glove, figures j but the stolen article is 

usually, as in most of the instances cited above, a cup or 

a drinking-horn. Many such articles are still preserved 

in various parts of Northern Europe. Of these the most 

celebrated are the Luck of Edenhall and the Oldenburg 

horn. But before discussing these I must refer to some 

other stories, the material evidence of which is no longer 

extant. Gervase of Tilbury relates that in a forest of 

Gloucestershire there is a glade in the midst whereof 

stands a hillock rising to the height of a man. Knights 

and hunters were wont, when fatigued with heat and 

thirst, to ascend the hillock in question to obtain relief. 

This had to be done singly and alone. The adventurous 

man then would say: "I thirst," when a cupbearer would 

appear and present him with a large drinking-horn 

adorned with gold and gems, as, says the writer, was the 

custom among the most ancient English, and containing 

liquor of some unknown but most delicious flavour. When 

he had drunk this, all heat and weariness fled from his 

* Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 142, quoting Thiele. See also Keightley, p. 88 ; 
Campbell, vol. ii. p. 97. 

II 



146 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

body, and the cupbearer presented him with a towel 
to wipe his mouth withal ; and then having performed 
his office he disappeared, waiting neither for recompense 
' iior inquiry. One day an ill-conditioned knight of the 
city of Gloucester, having gotten the horn into his hands, 
contrary to custom and good manners kept it. But the 
Earl of Gloucester, having heard of it, condemned the 
robber to death, and gave the horn to King Henry I., 
lest he should be thought to have approved of such 
wickedness if he had added the rapine of another to the 
store of his own private property. Gervase of Tilbury 
wrote near the beginning of the thirteenth century. His 
contemporary, William of Newbury, relates a similar 
story, but lays its scene in Yorkshire. He says that a 
peasant coming home late at night, not very sober, and 
passing by a barrow, heard the noise of singing and 
feasting. Seeing a door open in the side of the barrow, 
he looked in, and beheld a great banquet. One of the 
attendants offered him a cup, which he took, but would 
not drink. Instead of doing so, he poured out the con- 
tents, and kept the vessel. The fleetness of his beast 
enabled him to distance all pursuit, and he escaped. 
We are told that the cup, described as of unknown 
material, of unusual colour and of extraordinary form, 
was presented to Henry I., who gave it to his brother- 
in-law, David, King of the Scots. After having been 
kept for several years in the Scottish treasury it was 
given by William the Lion to King Henry H., who 
wished to see it.' 

By a fortune somewhat rare, this story, having been 
written down in the days of the early Plantagenet kings, 
has been lately found again among the folk in the 
East Riding. The how, or barrow, where it is now said 
to have occurred is Willey How, near Wold Newton, on 
the Bridlington road, a conspicuous mound about three 

' Gerv. Tilb., Decis. iii. c. 60; Guil. Neub. "Chronica Reruii\ 
Anglic, " lib. i. c, 28, quoted by LiebiecYit. m a i^oV^ lo Gerv. Tilb, 



ROBBERIES FROM FAIRYLAND: 147 

hundred fuct in circumference and sixty feet in height. 
The rustic to whom the adventure happened was an 
inhabitant of Wold Newton, who had been on a visit to 
the neighbouring village of North Burton, and was 
belated. Another tale resembling the Gloucestershire 
, is found in Swabia, though the object of which 
the mysterious benefactor was deprived was not a cup, 
but a knife. Some farm servants, while at work in the 
fields, were approached by an unusually beautiful maiden 
clad in black. Every day about nine or ten o'clock in 
norning, and again about four o'clock in the after- 
noon, she brought them a small pitcher of wine and a 
loaf of snow-white bread — greater luxuries, probably, to 
peasants then even than they would be now. She always 
brought a very pretty silver knife to cut the bread, and 
always begged them to be sure to give it back to her, 
else she were lost. Her visits continued until one of the 
servants took it into his head to keep the knife, which 
he was ungrateful enough to do in spite of her tears and 
prayers. Finding all entreaties vain, she uttered piercing 
cries of distress, tore her fair hair, rent her silken clothes, 
and vanished, never to be seen again. But often you 
may hear on the spot where she once appeared sobs and 
I the sound of weeping.' 

A Cornish tale relates that a farmer's boy of Portallow 
' was one night sent to a neighbouring village for some 
I household necessaries. On the way he fell in with some 
I piskies, and by repeating the formula he heard them use, 
transported himself with them, first to Portallow Green, 
then to Seaton Beach, and finally to "the King of 
France's cellar,'' where he joined his mysterious com- 
panions in tasting that monarch's wines. They then 
passed through magnificent rooms, where the tables were 

' Nicholson, p. 83. Mr. Nicholson in a leUer to me says that he 
had the story as given hy him from an old inhahitant of Bridlington, 
and that it is- current in the neightiourhood. Birlinger, " Volt'A." 
t YoL i. pp. 3, 5, 



148 THE SCIEN'CE OF FAIRY TALES. 

laden for a feast. By way of taking some memorial of 
his travels he pocketed one of the rich silver goblets 
which stood on one of the tables. After a very short 
stay the word was passed to return, and presently he 
found himself again at home. The good wife compli- 
mented him on his despatch. " You'd say so, if you only 
know*d where I've been," he replied ; ** I've been wi' the 
piskies to Seaton Beach, and I've been to the King o* 
France's house, and all in five minutes." The farmer 
stared and said the boy was mazed, " I thought you'd 
say I was mazed, so I brort away this mug to show vor 
et," he answered, producing the goblet. With such 
undeniable evidence his story could not be any longer 
doubted. Stealing from a natural enemy like the King 
of France was probably rather meritorious than other- 
Wise ; and the goblet remained in the boy's family for 
generations, though unfortunately it is no longer forth- 
coming for the satisfaction of those who may still be 
sceptical.' 

This story differs from the others I have detailed, in 
narrating a raid by supernatural beings on the dwelling 
of a human potentate — a raid in which a human creature 
joined and brought away a substantial trophy. In the 
seventeenth century there was in the possession of Lord 
Duffus an old silver cup, called the Fairy Cup, con- 
cerning which the following tradition was related to John 
Aubrey, the antiquary, by a correspondent writing from 
Scotland on the 25th of March 1695. An ancestor of the 
then Lord Duffus was walking in the fields near his house 
in Morayshire when he heard the noise of a whirlwind and 
of voices crying : " Horse and Hattock ! " This was the 
exclamation fairies were said to use '* when they remove 
from any place." Lord Duffus was bold enough to cry 
" Horse and Hattock " also, and was immediately caught 
up through the air with the fairies to the King of France's 
cellar at Paris, where, after he had heartily drunk, he 

^ "Choice Notes," p. 73. 






KOEEERIES FROM FAIRYLAND. I49 

fell asleep. There he was found lying the next morning 
with the silver cup in his hand, and was promptly brought 
before the King, to whom, on being questioned, he re- 
peated this story ; and the King, in dismissing him, 
presented him with the cup. Where it may be now I 
do not know, nor does Aubrey's correspondent furnish 
us with any description of it, save the negative but 
important remark that it had nothing engraven upon it 
beside the arms of the family.' 

On this vessel, therefore, if it be yet in existence, there 
is nothing to warrant the name of Fairy Cup, or to 
connect it with the adventure just related. Nor does the 
Oldenburg Horn itself bear any greater marks of authen- 
ticity. That famous vessel is still exhibited at the palace 
of Rosenborg at Copenhagen. It is of silver gilt, and 
ornamented in paste with enamel. It bears coats of 
arms and inscriptions, showing that it was made for 
King Christian I. of Denmark in honour of the Three 
Kings of Cologne, and cannot therefore be older tlian the 
middle of the fifteenth century. The legend attached to 
it claims for it a much greater antiquity. The legend itself 
was narrated in Hamelmann's " Oldenburger Chronik " 
at the end of the sixteenth century, and is even yet current 
in the mouths of the Oldenburg folk. Hamelmann dates 
it in the year 990, when the then Count of Oldenburg 
was hunting in the forest of Bernefcucr. He had followed 
a roe from that forest to the Osenberg, and had distanced 
all his attendants. It was the twentieth of July, the 
weather was hot, and the count thirsty. He cried out 
for a draught of water, and had scarcely uttered the 
words, when the hill opened and a beautiful damsel 
appeared and offered him drink in this horn. Not liking 
the look of the beverage, he declined to drink. Where- 
upon she pressed him to do so, assuring him that it would 
go well with him and his thenceforth, and with the whole 
house of Oldenburg ; but if the count would not believe 
' Aubrey, " Miscellai\j ," p. V^g. 



ISO THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

her and drink there would be no unity from that time in 
the Oldenburg family. He had no faith in her words, 
,and poured out the drink, which took the hair off his 
horse wherever it splashed him, and galloped away wuth 
the horn.* 

Other drinking-horns, of which precisely analogous 
tales are told, are still to be seen in Norway. Of the 
one at Halsteengaard it is related that the posterity of 
the robber, down to the ninth generation, were afflicted, 
as a penalty, with some bodily blemish. This horn is 
described as holding nearly three quarts, and as being 
encircled by a strong gilt copper ring, about three inches 
broad, on which, in monkish characters, are to be read 
the names of the Three Kings of Cologne, Melchior, 
Baltazar, and Caspar. It is further ornamented with a 
small gilt copper plate, forming the setting of an oval 
crystal. Another horn, preserved in the museum at 
Arendal, was obtained in a similar manner. A father, 
pursuing his daughter and her lover, was stopped by a 
troll, and offered drink in it. Instead of drinking, he 
cast out the contents, with the usual result, and put 
spurs to his horse. He was counselled by another troll, 
who was not on good terms with the first, to ride through 
the rye and not through the wheat ; but even when his 
pursuer was impeded by the tall rye-stalks, only the 
crowing of the cock before dawn rescued him. The 
vessel is encircled by three silver gilt rings, bearing an 
inscription, which seems not quite correctly reported, as 
follows : " Potum servorum benedic deus alme tuorum 
reliquam unus benede le un Caspar Melchior Baltazar," ^ 

* Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 128 ; Kuhn und Schwartz, p. 280. The latter 
is the version still found as traditional. Its details are not so full, and 
are in some respects different. 

" Thorpe, vol. ii. pp. 15, 14, apparently quoting Faye. Dr. Geo. 
Stephens of the University of Copenhagen very kindly made a great 
number of inquiries for me with a view to obtain information, and, if 
possible, drawings of the Scandinavian horns and cups, but unhappily 
with little success. The answer to his inquiries in reference to the horns 



BOBBERIES rROM FAIRYLAND. 15I 

The legend of which I am treating attaches aUo to a 
number of sacred chalices. At Aagerup, in Zealand, is 
1 one of these. The thief^ nearly overtaken by the trolls 
he had robbed, prayed to God in his distress, and vowed 
to bestow ihe cup upon the church if his prayer were 
heard. The church of Vigersteil, also in Zealand, 
possesses another. In the latter case the man took 
refuge in the church, where he was besieged by the 
trolls until morning. In Bornholm a chalice and paten 
belonging to the church are said to have been made out 
_of a cup stolen in the same way by a peasant whose 
mother was a mermaid, and who had inherited some 
portion of her supernatural power ; hence, probably, his 
intercourse with the trolls, of which he took, so mean an 
advantage. At V^iol, near Flensborg, in Sfhleswig, is a 
of Halsleengaard and Arendal, sent by Prof. Olnf Rygh, the learned 
Keeper of the Norvi-egian Muaeiim at Christiania, will he read with 
interest. Jle s:iyb : "Mr. Ilartland's notice of ' I lalstengaard ' in 
Norway douLdess refers to a Jocal tale about a drlnWng-tom formerly 
in Ihe hands of the owner of Holsteingaard, Aal parish, Hallingdal. 
It tt-as first made [mlilic in the year 174-, in "Ivat Wiels Beskriveke 
over Eingerige og Ilallingdals Fogderi,' in 'Topografisk Journal for 
Norge,' Part XXXI., Christiania, 1804, pp. 179-183. I know nothing 
more as lo the fale of this horn than what is said in Nicolayseti's ' Norske 
Fornlevnioger,' p, 152, that it is said to have been sent lo the BeiE^n 
Museum in 1845. Should ihls he so, it will be almost impossible to 
identify it among the many 5ueh horns in that colleclioQ, Aa described 
by Wiel, it was merely a very simple specimen of ihe kind with the 
common inscrijition JASPAR x MKLCIIIOR X BALTAZAK. 
This class of horn was lately imported to Norway from North Germany 
in the 15th and l6th centuries. 

" Meanwhile I beg to point out that the oldest legend of this kind 
which has come down to us is found in ' Biskop Jens Nilsaons Visitats- 
bi^ t^ Rcise-oplegnelser, udgivne af Dr. Yngvar Nielsen,' p. 393. 
It was written by the bishop or his amanuensis during his visilation, 
lS95i in Flatdal parish, Telemarken. What has become of the horn 
spoken of by the bishop I cannot say. 

"I have no idea of what is meant by Mr. Harlland's reference lo 
Arendal. Possilily it may concern something in the museum Ihere, but 
of which I never iienrd. The printed catalogue of ihe museum (Arendal, 
i88a) includes nothing from the middle age m \fttei." 



iji THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

beaker belonging to the church, and, like the chalice at 
Aagerup, of gold, of which it is narrated that it was 
presented full of a liquor resembling buttermilk to a 
man who was riding by a barrow where the underground 
folk were holding high festival. He emptied and rode 
off with it in the usual manner. A cry arose behind 
him : " Three-legs, come out ! " and, looking round, he 
saw a monster pursuing him. Finding this creature 
unable to come up with him, he heard many voices 
calling : " Two-legs, come out ! " But his horse was 
swifter than Two-legs. Then One-leg was summoned, 
as in the story already cited from Mecklenburg, and came 
after him with gigantic springs, and would have caught 
him, but the door of his own house luckily stood open. 
He had scarcely entered, and slammed it to, when One- 
leg stood outside, banging against it, and foiled. The 
beaker was presented to the church in fulfilment of a 
vow made by the robber in his fright ; and it is now used 
as the communion-cup. At Rambin, on the island of 
Riigen, is another cup, the story of which relates that 
the man to whom it was offered by the underground folk 
did not refuse to drink, but having drunk, he kept the 
vessel and took it home. A boy who was employed to 
watch horses by night on a turf moor near the village of 
Kritzemow, in Mecklenburg, annoyed the underground 
folk by the constant cracking of his whip. One night, 
as he was thus amusing himself, a mannikin came up to 
him and offered him drink in a silver-gilt beaker. The 
boy took the beaker, but being openly on bad terms with 
the elves, argued no good to himself from such an offer- 
ing. So he instantly leaped on horseback and fled, with 
the vessel in his hand, along the road to Biestow and 
Rostock. The mannikin, of course, followed, but, coming 
to a crossway, was compelled to give up the chase. When 
the boy reached Biestow much of the liquid, as was to be 
expected, had been shaken out of the cUp, and wherever 
on the horse it had fallen the hair had been burnt away. 



sObbEries from fairyland. 



iSi 



I 



Glad of escaping this danger, the boy thanked God and 
handt;d the vessel over to the church at Biestow. In 
none of these instances, however, do I find any descrip- 
tion of the goblet.' 

Fortunately there is one, and that the most celebrated 
of all the cups to which a fairy origin has been ascribed, 
which has been often and accurately delineated both with 
pen and pencil. I refer to the Luck of Edenha!!, It 
belongs to Sir George Musgrave of Edenhail, in Cumber- 
land, in the possession of whose family it has been for 
many generations. The tradition is that a butler, going 
to fetch water from a well in the garden, called Sl 
Cuthbert's Well, came upon a company of fairies at their 
revels, and snatched It from them. As the little, ill-used 
folk disappeared, after an ineffectual attempt to recover 
it, they cried : , 



The rr.oit recent account of it was written in the year 
1880, by the Kev. Dr. Fitch, for "The Scarborough 
Gaiette," from which it has been reprinted for private cir- 
culation in the shape of a dainty pamphlet. He speaks 
of it, from a personal examination, as "a glass stoup, a 
drinking vessel, about six inches in height, having a 
circular base, perfectly flat, two inches in diameter, 
gradually expanding upwards till it ends in a mouth four 
inches across. The material is by no means fine in 
quality, presenting, as it does on close inspection, several 
small cavities or air-bubbles. The general hue is a warm 
green, resembling the tone known by artists as brown 
pink. Upon the transparent glass is traced a geometric 
pattern in white and blue enamel, somewhat raised, 

■ Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 144, quoting Thiele. Keighlley, pp. 109, 
till note; (The latter menlions anoltier tliefl of a silver jug where 
the thief was saved by crossing running wa.ter.) Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 140 j 
vol. iii. p. 70, quoting MiillenholTj Jahti, ^, Jj-, Bai\sii\,'jQ\.\.'5. to. 



154 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

aided by gold and a little crimson. It will, of course, 
stand on its base, but it would be far from wise to entrust 
it, when filled, to this support." Dr. Fitch is in accord 
with the common opinion of antiquaries in pronouncing 
it to be of Venetian origin, though Mr. Franks thought 
it Saracenic. He describes the case in which it is kept as 
evidently made for it, being of the same shape. " The 
lid of this case,*' he says, " rather unevenly fits the body 
by overlapping it. There is no hinge ; the fastenings 
are certain hooks or catches, not in good condition ; the 
security and better apposition of the lid is maintained by 
a piece of leather, not unlike a modern boot-lace, or thin 
thong. The case dates, probably, from the fifteenth 
century, as articles made of similar material, viz., cuir 
boutllt\ softened or boiled leather, were much in use in 
that age. This case bears an elegantly varied pattern 
that has been recognized in an inkstand of Henry the 
Seventh's, yet extant. Upon the lid of this case, in very 
chaste and well-formed characters, is the sacred mono- 
gram I.H.S." These three letters, which do not really 
form a monogram, have possibly given rise to the 
surmise, or tradition, that the Luck was once used as 
a sacred vessel. Dr. Fitch goes on to quote several 
authorities, showing that chalices of glass were sanctioned 
by the church, and were, in fact, made and used ; and 
the Luck may have been such a vessel. But I can see no 
sufficient evidence of it. There is nothing to show that 
the leathern case is of the same date as the glass itself ; 
and it may have been made long afterwards. The earliest 
mention of the relic seems to have been by Francis 
Douce, the antiquary, who was at Edenhall in 1785, and 
wrote some verses upon it ; nor is there any authentic 
family history attaching to it. The shape of the goblet, 
its unsteadiness when full, and the difficulty of drinking 
from it without spilling some of its contents, of which Dr. 
Fitch had some experience, would point to its being 
intended rather for convivial than sacred uses. 



ROBBERIES FROM FAIRYLAND. I5S 

The hypothesis of the Luck's having once been a chalice 
explains nothing ; because, as we have seen, several of the 
cups alleged to have been stolen from supernatural beings 
are chalices to this day. Moreover, what are we to think 
of the drinking-horns of which the same tale is told ? 
Some of these already mentioned bear, not indeed the 
sacred letters, but prayers and the names of the sainted 
Kings of Cologne, though, unlike the cups, they are not 
found in churches. One drinking-horn, however, was 
preserved in the cathedral at Wexio, in Sweden, until 
carried away by the Danes in 1570. This horn, stated to 
be of three hundred colours, was received by a knight on 
Christmas morning from a troll-wife, whose head he 
there and then cut off with his sword. The king dubbed 
him Trolle in memory of the deed, and bestowed on him 
a coat-of-arms containing a headless troll.* How the 
horn came into the possession of the cathedral I do not 
know ; but at all events it could never have been a 
chalice. 

A silver cup, perhaps still used for sacramental 
purposes at the parish church of Malew, in the Isle of 
Man, is the subject of the following legend. A farmer 
returning homeward to the parish of Malew from Peel 
was benighted and lost his way among the mountains. 
In the course of his wanderings he was drawn by the 
sound of sweet music into a large hall where a number of 
little people were banqueting. Among them were some 
faces he thought he had formerly seen ; but he forbore to 
take any notice of them. Nor did they take any notice 
of him until he was offered drink, when one of them, 
whose features seemed not unknown to him, plucked him 
by the coat and forbade him, whatever he did, to taste 
anything he saw before him ; "for if you do,'' he added, 
"you will be as I am, and return no more to your 
family." Accordingly, when a large silver beaker was 
put into his hand, filled with liquor, he found an oppor- 
* Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 91, quoting Mz^Um^. 



156 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

tunity to throw its contents on the ground. The music 
forthwith ceased, and the company disappeared, leaving 
the cup in his hand. On finding his way home, he told 
the minister of the parish what had occurred ; and the 
latter, with the instincts of his profession, advised him to 
devote the cup to the service of the Church. We are 
indebted to Waldron's well-known " Description of the 
Isle of Man," originally published in 1731, for this story. 
A later writer, annotating Waldron's work rather more 
than a quarter of a century ago, refers to the vessel in 
question as a paten ; he states that it was still preserved 
in the church, and that it bore engraved the legend : 
" Sancte Lupe ora pro nobis." ' There are no fewer 
than eleven saints named Lupus in the calendar. 
Whichever of them was invoked here, the inscription 
points to a continental origin for the vessel, whether cup 
or paten, and is not inconsistent with its being of some 
antiquity. 

Mr. Train, who quotes the tradition in his account of 
the Isle of Man, states that several similar tales had been 
placed at his disposal by friends in the island ; but it was 
naturally beneath the dignity of an historian to do more 
than give a single specimen of this " shade of super- 
stition," as he calls it. He does, however, mention 
(though apparently without being conscious of any close 
relationship with the cup of Kirk Malew) an antique 
crystal goblet in the possession, when he wrote, of 
Colonel Wilks, the proprietor of the Estate of Balla- 
fletcher, four or five miles from Douglas. It is described 
as larger than a common bell-shaped tumbler, un- 
commonly light and chaste in appearance, and orna- 
mented with floral scrolls, having between the designs, 
on two sides, upright columellce of five pillars. The 
history of this cup is interesting. It is said to have been 
taken by Magnus, the Norwegian King of Man, from 
St. Olave's shrine. On what ground this statement rests 

' Waldron, pp. 28, 106, 



ROEDERIES FROM FAIRYLAND. 157 

does not appear. W]iat is really known about the goblet 
is that having belonged for at least a hundred years to 
the Fletcher family, the owners of Ballafletcher, it was 
sold with the effects of the last of the family in 1778, and 
ivas bought by Robert C^sar, Esq., who gave it to his 
niece for safe keeping. This niece was, perhaps, the 
" old lady, a connection of the family of Fletcher," who 
is mentioned by Train as having presented the cup to 
Colonel Wilks. The tradition is that it had been given 
to the first of the Fletcher family more than two centuries 
ago, with the injunction '■ that as long as he preserved it 
peace and plenty would follow ; but woe to him who broke 
it, as he would surely be haunted by the lluannan Shee" 
or "peaceful spirit'' of Ballafletcher. It was kept in 
a recess, whence it was never taken except on Christmas 
and Easter days, or, according to Train's account, at 
Christmas alone. Then, wc are told, it was "filled with 
wine, and quaffed off at a breath fay the head of the house 
only, as a libation to the spirit for her protection," ' 

Here is no mention of the theft of the goblet unless 
from St. Olave's sanctuary ; but yet I think we have 
a glimpse of the real character of the cups to which the 
legend I am discussing attaches. They were probably 
sacrificial vessels dedicated to the old pagan worship of 
the house-spirits, of which we find so many traces among 
the Indo-European peoples. These house-spirits had 
their chief seat on the family hearth ; and their great 
festival was that of the New Year, celebrated at the 
winter solstice. The policy of the Church in early and 
mediaeval times was to baptize to Christian uses as many 

' Train, vol. \\. p. 154 ; nnil see a nole by Harrison to his edition of 
WnldtoQ, p, 106. The cup i? stateJ by Harrison to liave been, when 
h: wrote, in the possession of Major Bacon, of Seafield House. Mrs. 
Russell, of Oxforii, liiadlf made inquiries for ide la the Ible of Man as 
to its present whereabouts, and that of the cup ol Kirk Malcw, and 
inserted a query in Yn Ltvar Slaiiniitagh, the organ of the Isle of 
Man Natnr.il History and Antiquarian tiociety, but withont eliciting 
any infomialion. •- 



1 



158 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

of the heathen beliefs and ceremonies as possible. The 
New Year festival thus became united with the anni- 
versary of the birth of Christ ; and it is matter of 
history that as the Danes used, previously to their con- 
version, to drink to Odin and the Anses, so after that 
event they were in the habit of solemnly pledging Our 
Lord, His Apostles and the Saints. Such of the old 
beliefs and practices, however, as the Church could 
neither impress with a sacred character, nor destroy, 
lingered on. Among them were the superstitions of the 
fairies and the household spirits ; and there is nothing 
unlikely in the supposition that special vessels were kept 
for the ceremonies in which these beings were propitiated. 
For this purpose a horn would serve as well as any goblet ; 
if, indeed, it were not actually preferred, as being older, 
and therefore more sacred in shape and material. As 
thes2 ceremonies gradually fell into desuetude, or were 
put down by clerical influence, it would be both natural 
and in accordance with policy that the cups devoted to 
the supposed rites should be transferred to the service of 
the Church.^ They would all be old-fashioned, quaint, 
and, many of them, of foreign and unknown provenance. 
Already connected in the minds of the people with the 
spirit world, a supernatural origin would be ascribed to 
them ; and gift or robbery would be the theory of acqui- 
sition most readily adopted. Now, theory in a certain 
stage of culture is indistinguishable from narrative. 

In this chapter I have dealt entirely with stolen goods ; 
but, as we have seen in previous chapters, tales of cups 
and other articles lent or given by elves in exchange for 
services rendered are by no means unknown. I cannot, 
however, recall any of such gifts which are now extant. 
It were much to be wished that all the drinking-vessels — 

* It is not irrelevant to observe in this connection that several of the 
chalices in Sweden are said to have been presented to the churches by 
priests to whom a Berg-woman had offered drink in these very cups o\ 
bowls (Thorpe, vol, ii. p. 90, quoting MieWusV 



ROBBERIES FROM FAIRVLAND, 1$^ 

nay, all the articles of every kind— to which legends of 
supernatural origin belong were actually figured and 
described. Much light would thereby be thrown upon j 
their true history. I will only now point out, with 
regard to the Luck of Edenhall, and the three horns of 
Oldenburg, of Halsteengaard, and of Arendal, of which i 
we have full descriptions, that what we know of them is 
all in confirmation of the theory suggested. In par- 
ticular, the names of the Three Kings connect the horns 
with a Christmas, or Twelfth Night, festival, which is 
exactly what the theory of the sacrificial nature of these 
vessels would lead us to expect. If we turn from the 
actual beakers to the stories, it is surprising how many 
of these we find pointing to the same festival. The cup 
of South Konger.slev was won and lost on Christmas 
Eve. The horn and pipe of Liungby were stolen " one 
night of Christmas." It was at Christmas-time that the 
Danish boy acquired his supernatural strength by giving 
back to the elf-inaiden the horn he had taken from her. 
The Halsteengaard horn and the golden beaker of 
Aagerup were both reft from the trolls on Christmas 
Eve, and the horn of Wexio on Christmas morning. 
The night of St. John's Day is mentioned as the time 
when the horn now at Arendal was obtained. The saint 
here referred to is probably St. John the Evangelist, 
whose feast is on December the 27th. And in more than 
one case the incident is connected with a marriage, which 
would b3 an appropriate occasion for the propitiation of 
the household spirit. The only instance presenting any 
difficulty is that of the cupat Kirk Malew ; and there the 
difficulty arises from the name of the saint to whom the 
cup was apparently dedicated. Nor is it lessened by 
the number of saints bearing the name of Lupus. The 
days on which these holy men are respectively com- 
memorated range through the calendar from January to 
October ; and until we know which of them was inte.wdfi.4 
I it is useless to attempt an explanation. TYva oji.c&'C^'iw., 



l6o THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

however, is of small account in the face of the probability 
called forth by the coincidences that remain. 

There is one other matter to which I would call 
attention, namely, that while stories of the type discussed 
in the foregoing pages are common to both Celts and 
Teutons, the stolen cup is exclusively a Teutonic 
possession. More than that, no authentic record of the 
preservation of the relic itself is found save in the homes 
and conquests of the Scandinavian race. Is this to be 
accounted for by the late date of Christianity, and, there- 
fore, the more recent survival of heathen rites among 
Teutonic, and especially Scandinavian, peoples ? 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TLME IN FAIRYLAND. 

The story of Rhys and Llewelyn — Dancing for a twelvemonth — British 
variants — Lapse of time among the Siberian Tartars — German 
and Slavonic stories — The penalty of curiosity and greed — A 
Lapp tale — The mother leaving her child in the mysterious cave — 
Rip van Winkle — Eastern variants — King Herla— The Adalantado 
of the Seven Cities — The Seven Sleepers — King Wenzel and the 
smith — Lost brides and bridegrooms — The Monk Felix — Visits to 
Paradise — A Japanese tale. 

In previous chapters we have seen that human beings are 
sometimes taken by fairies into Fairyland, and that they 
are there kept for a longer or shorter period, or, it may 
be, are never permitted to return to earth at all. We 
have noted cases in which they are led down for 
temporary purposes and, if they are prudent, are enabled 
to return when those purposes are accomplished. We 
have noted other cases in which babes or grown women 
have been stolen and retained until their kindred have 
compelled restoration. The story cited in the last 
chapter from Giraldus describes a seduction of a 
different kind. There th3 visit to Fairyland was of a 
more voluntary character, and the hero was able to go 
to and fro as he pleased. We have also met with tales 
in which the temptation of food, or more usually of 
drink, has been held out to the wayfarer ; and we have 
learned that the result of yielding would be to give 
himself wholly into the fairies* hands. I propose now to 
examine instances in which temptatioiv oi otv^ Vvcv^ est 

12 



\ 

\ 



/ 



l6i tHfe SClfeNCE OF ^AlkV tAlES. 

Other has been successful, or in which a spell has been 
cast over man or woman, not merely preventing the 
bewitched person from regaining his home and human 
society, but also rendering him, while under the spell, 
impervious to the attacks of time and unconscious of its 
flight. 
• \\^ These stories are of many types. The first type 
"^ comes, so far as I know, only from Celtic sources. It 

is very widely known in Wales, and we may call it, from 
its best-known example, the ** Rhys and Llewelyn type." 
A story obtained between sixty and seventy years ago in 
the Vale of Neath relates that Rhys and Llewelyn were 
fellow-servants to a farmer ; and they had been engaged 
one day in carrying lime for their master. As they were 
going home, driving their mountain ponies before them 
in the twilight, Rhys suddenly called to his companion 
to stop and listen to the music. It was a tune, he said, 
to which he had danced a hundred times, and he must 
go and have a dance now. So he told his companion to 
go on with the horses and he would soon overtake him. 
Llewelyn could hear nothing, and began to remonstrate ; 
but away sprang Rhys, and he called after him in vain. 
Accordingly he went home, put up the ponies, ate his 
supper and went to bad, thinking that Rhys had only 
made a pretext for going to the alehouse. But when 
morning came, and still no sign of Rhys, he told his 
master what had occurred. Search proving fruitless, 
suspicion fell on Llewelyn of having murdered his 
fellow-servant ; and he was accordingly imprisoned. A 
farmer in the neighbourhood, skilled in fairy matters, 
guessing how things might have been, proposed that 
himself and some others, including the narrator of the 
story, should accompany Llewelyn to the place where he 
parted with Rhys. On coming to it, " Hush ! " cried 
Llewelyn, "I hear music, I hear sweet harps." All 
listened, but could hear nothing. But Llewelyn's foot 
was on the outward edge of the fairy-ring. " Put your 



IE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 163 

foot on mine, David," he said to the narrator. The 
latter did so, and so did each of the party, one after the 
other, and then heard the sound of many harps, and saw 
within a circle, about twenty feet across, great numbers 
of little people dancing round and round. Among them 
was Rhys, whom Llewelyn caught by the smock-frock, as 
he came by him, and pulled him out of the circle. 
"Where are the horses? where are the horses ?" cried 
he. " Horses, indeed ! " said Llewelyn. Rhys urged 
him to go home and let him finish his dance, in which 
he averred he had not been engaged more than five 
minutes. It was only by main force they got him away ; 
and the sequel was that he could not be persuaded of the 
time that had passed in the dance : he became melan- 
choly, took to his bed, and soon after died.' 

Variants of this tale are found all over Wales. At 
Pwllheli, Professor Rliys was told of two youths who 
went out to fetch cattle and came at dusk upon a party 
of fairies dancing. One was drawn into the circle ; and 
the other was suspected of murdering him, until, at 
a wizard's suggestion, he went again to the same spot at 
the end of a year and a day. There he found his friend 
dancing, and managed to get him out, reduced to a mere 
skeleton. The first question put by the rescued man 
was as to the cattle he was driving. Again, at Trefriw, 
Professor Rhys found a belief that when a young man 
got into a fairy-ring the fairy damsels took him away ; 
but he could be got out unharmed at the end of a year 
and a day, when he would be found dancing with them 
in the same ring. The mode of recovery was to touch 
him with a piece of iron and to drag him out at once. 
We shall consider hereafter the reason for touching the 
captive with iron. In this way was recovered, after 
the expiration of a year and a day, a youth who had 



1 



' Croker, vol. i 



ii5. This lale is givt 



wilhoat any iicUnow let1j;nienl. It is als 



I by Sites, p. JO, of 
) found in K.ev^\iH^, 



1 64 THE SCIENCE OF FAlkY TALES. 

wandered into a fairy-ring. He had new shoes on at the 
time he was lost ; and he could not be made to under- 
stand that he had been there more than five minutes 
until he was asked to look at his new shoes, which were 
by that time in pieces. Near Aberystwyth, Professor 
Rhys was told of a servant-maid who was lost while 
looking for some calves. Her fellow-servant, a man, was 
taken into custody on a charge of murdering her. A 
" wise man," however, found out that she was with the 
fairies ; and by his directions the servant-man was 
successful at the end of the usual period of twelve 
months and a day in drawing her out of the fairy-ring 
at the place where she was lost. As soon as she was 
released and saw her fellow-servant (who was carefully 
dressed in the same clothes as he had on when she left 
him), she asked about the calves. On their way home 
she told her master, the servant-man, and the others, that 
she would stay with them until her master should strike 
her with iron. One day, therefore, when she was help- 
ing her master to harness a horse the bit touched her, 
and she disappeared instantly and was never seen from 
that time forth. In another case, said to have happened 
in Anglesea, a girl got into a fairy-circle while looking, 
with her father, for a lost cow. By a " wise man's " 
advice, however, he rescued her by pulling her out of 
the circle the very hour of the night of the anniversary 
of his loss. The first inquiry she then made was after 
the cow, for she had not the slightest recollection of the 
time she had spent with the fairies.^ 

A ghastly sequel, more frequently found in a type of 
the story considered later on, sometimes occurs. In 
Carmarthenshire it is said that a farmer going out one 
morning very early was lost ; nor were any tidings heard 
of him for more than twelve months afterwards, until 
one day a man passing by a lonely spot saw him dancing, 
and spoke to him. This broke the spell ; and the farmer, 
' '' y Cymmrodor," vol. vi. pp. 174, 157, 196, 187. 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 165 

as if waking out of a dream, exclaimed: "Oil dear! 
where are my horses ? " Stepping out of the magical 
circle, he fell down and mingled his dust with the earth. 
In North Wales a story was generally current a couple of 
generations since of two jnen travelling together who 
were benighted in a wood. One of them slept, tut the 
other fell into the hands of the fairies. With the help 
of a wizard's advice, some of his relatives rescued him at 
the end of a year. They went to the place where his 
companion had missed him, there found him dancing 
with the fairies and dragged him out of the ring. The 
unfortunate man, imagining it was the same night and 
that he was with his companion, immediately asked if it 
were not better to go home. He was offered some food, 
which he began to eat ; but he had no sooner done so 
than he mouldered away. A similar tradition attaches 
to a certain yew-tree near Mathafarn in the parish of 
Llanwrin. One of two farm-servants was lost at that 
spot, and found again, a year after, dancing in a fairy- 
circle. On being dragged out he was asked if he did not 
feel hungry. " No," he replied, " and if I did, have I not 
here in my wallet the remains of my dinner that I had 
before I fell asleep ? " He did not know that a year had 
passed by. His look was like a skeleton ; and as soon as 
he had tasted food he too mouldered away.' 

In Scotland the story is told without this terrible end. 
For example, in Sutherland shire we learn that a man 
who had been with a friend to the town of Lairg to 
enter his first child's birth in the session -books, and to 
buy a keg of whisky against the christening, sat down to 
rest at the foot of the hill of Durch4, near a large hole 

' Howells, pp. 141, 1451 Sikes, p. 73. I have iint been able to 
tr[u;c Mr. Sikes' authority for the last stury ; but his eKperience and skill 
in borrowing from other books are so much greater than in oral collec- 
tion Ihat it is probably from some lileraiy source, thuiigh no doubt 
many of the embellishments ure his own. The foiintlaiion, howevsti 
appears to be tradiliotml. 



1 66 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

from which they soon heard a sound of piping and 
dancing. Feeling curious, he entered the cavern, and 
disappeared. His friend was accused of murder, but 
being allowed a year and a day to vindicate himself, he 
used to repair at dusk to the fatal spot and call and pray. 
One day before the term ran out, he sat, as usual, in the 
gloaming by the cavern, when, what seemed his friend's 
shadow passed within it. It was his friend himself, 
tripping merrily with the fairies. The accused man 
succeeded in catching him by the sleeve and pulling him 
out. "Why could you not let me finish my reel, 
Sandy ? " asked the bewitched man. " Bless me ! " re- 
joined Sandy, " have you not had enough of reeling this 
last twelvemonth ? " But the other would, not believe in 
this lapse of time until he found his wife sitting by the 
door with a yearling child in her arms. In Kirkcud- 
brightshire, one night about Hallowe'en two young 
ploughmen, returning from an errand, passed by an old 
ruined mill and heard within music and dancing. One 
of them went in ; and nothing was seen of him again 
until a year after, when his companion went to the same 
place, Bible in hand, and delivered him from the evil 
beings into whose power he had fallen.^ 

The captive, however, does not always require to be 
sought for : he is sometimes released voluntarily by his 
captors. A man who lived at Ystradgynlais, in Breck- 
nockshire, going out one day to look after his cattle and 
sheep on the mountain, disappeared. In about three 
weeks, after search had been made in vain for him and 
his wife had given him up for dead, he came home. His 
wife asked him where he had been for the past three 
weeks. " Three weeks ! Is it three weeks you call three 
hours ? " said he. Pressed to say where he had been, he 
told her he had been playing on his flute (which he 
usually took with him on the mountain) at the Llorfa, a 
spot near the Van Pool, when he was surrounded at a 

' Campbell, vol. ii. pp. 63, 55. 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. I 

distance by little beings like men, who closed nearer and 
nearer to him until they became a very small circle. 
They sang and danced, and so afTected him that he quite 



: small cakes to cat, 
;ver enjoyed himself , 

5 a place where s 
as absent ten year; 
lot out of the house 
woman's proverbial 

her husband's 



lost himself. They offered him s 
of which he partook ; and he had r 
so well in his life. Near Bridgend i 
woman is said to have lived who wa: 
with the fairies, and thought she was ni 
more than ten minutes. With : 
persistency, she would not believe 
surances that it was ten years since she disappeared ; and 
the serious disagreement between them which ensued 
was so notorious that it gave a name to the place where 
they lived. A happier result is believed to have attended 
an adventure that foreboded much worse to a man at - 
Dornoch, in Sutherland shire. He was present at a funeral 
in the churchyard on New Year's Day, and was so piqued 
at not being invited, as all the others were, to some of the 
New Year's festivities, that in his vexation, happening to 
see a skull lying at his feet, he struck it with his staff and 
said : " Thou seemest to be forsaken and uncared-for, like 
myself. I have been bidden by none ; neither have I 
invited any : I now invite thee ! " That night as he and 
his wife were sitting down alone to supper, a venerable 
old man entered the room in silence and took his share of 
the delicacies provided. In those days the New Year's 
feast was kept up for eleven days together ; and the 
stranger's visit was repeated in the same absolute silence 
for six nights. At last the host, alarmed and uneasy, 
sought the priest's advice as to how he was to get rid of 
his unwelcome guest. The reverend father bade him, in 
laying the bannocks in the basket for the seventh day's 
supper, reverse the last-baked one. This, he declared, 
would induce the old man to speak. It did ; and the 
speech was an invitation — nay, rather a command — to 
spend the remainder of the festival with htm in the 
churchyard. The priest, again cov\5>u\x.ei, a.i-s\5,t4. co^- 



1 68 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

pliance ; and the man went trembling to the tryst. He 
found in the churchyard a great house, brilliantly 
illuminated, where he enjoyed himself, eating, drinking, 
piping and dancing. After what seemed the lapse of a 
few hours, the grey master of the house came to him, 
and bade him hasten home, or his wife would be married 
to another ; and in parting he advised him always to 
respect the remains of the dead. Scarcely had he done 
speaking when the grey old man himself, the guests, the 
house, and all that it contained, vanished, leaving the man 
to crawl home alone in the moonlight as best he might 
after so long a debauch. For he had been absent a year 
and a day ; and when he got home he found his wife in a 
bride's dress, and the whole house gay with a bridal party. 
His entrance broke in upon the mirth : his wife swooned, 
and the new bridegroom scrambled up the chimney. But 
when she got over her fright, and her husband had 
recovered from the fatigue of his year-long dance, they 
made it up, and lived happily ever after.' 

A story of this type has been elaborated by a Welsh 
writer who is known as " Glasynys " into a little romance, 
in which the hero is a shepherd lad, and the heroine a fairy 
maiden whom he weds and brings home with him. This 
need not detain us ; but a more authentic story from the 
Vale of Neath may be mentioned. It concerns a boy 
called Gitto Bach, or Little Griffith, a farmer's son, who 
disappeared. During two whole years nothing was heard 
of him ; but at length one morning when his mother, 
who had long and bitterly mourned for him as dead, 
opened the door, whom should she see sitting on the 

* '*F. L. Journal," vol. vi. p. 191. (This story was told to the present 
writer and Mr. G. L. Gommc by Alderman IIowcl Walters, of Ystrad- 
gynlais, who had it from an old man who knew the hero well and gave 
implicit credit to the narrative.) '* Trans. Aberd. Eistedd." p. 227 ; 
♦* F. L. Journal," vol. vi. p. 183. A similar tale is referred to in Jones' 
•'Account of the Parish of Aberystruth,'* 1779, quoted in "Choice 
Notes/' p, i$y. 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 169 

threshold but Gitto with a bundle under his arm. He 
was dressed and looked exactly as when she last saw him, 
for he had not grown a bit. ** Where have you been all 
this time ? " asked his mother. *' Why, it was only yes- 
terday I went away," he replied ; and opening the bundle, 
he showed her a dress the ** little children," as he called 
them, had given him for dancing with them. The dress 
was of white paper .without seam. With maternal caution 
she put it into the fire.* 

I am not aware of many foreign examples of this type ; 
but among the Siberian Tartars their extravagant heroes 
sometimes feast overlong with friends as mythical £s 
themselves. On one occasion 

*• 'I'hcy caroused, they feasted. 
That a month had flown 
They knew not ; 
That a year had gone by 
They knew not. 
As a year went by 
It seemed like a day ; 
As two years went by 
It seemed like two days : 
As three years went by 
It seemed like three days." 

Again, when a hero was married the time very naturally 
passed rapidly. *' One day he thought he had lived 
here — he had lived a month ; two days he believed he 
had lived — he had lived two months ; three days he 
believed he had lived — he had lived three months." And 
he was much surprised to learn from his bride how long 
it really was, though time seems always to have gone 
wrong with him. For after he was born it is recorded 
that in one day he became a year old, in two days two 
years, and in seven days seven years old ; after which he 
performed some heroic feats, ate fourteen sheep and three 
cows, and then lying down slept for seven days and seven 

" ** Cymru Fu," p. 177 (a translation is given by PioCt&ViX "to:^^ \tw 
*' y Cymmrodor," vol. v. p. 81) ; Croker, vo\, \\\% ^% 20%, 



170 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

nights — in other words, until he was fourteen years old. 
In a Breton tale a girl who goes down underground, to 
become godmother to a fairy child, thinks, when she 
returns, that she has been away but two days, though in 
the meantime her god-child has grown big : she has been 
in fact ten years. In a Hessian legend the time of absence 
is.8€ven years.' 
"^ Turning away from this type, in which pleasure, and 
especially the pleasure of music and dancing, is the 
motive, let us look at what seem to be some specially 
German and Slavonic types of the tale. In the latter it 
is rather an act of service (sometimes under compulsion), 
curiosity or greed, which leads the mortal into the 
mysterious regions where time has so little power. At 
Eldena, in Pomerania, are the ruins of a monastery and 
church, formerly very wealthy, under which are said to 
be some remarkable chambers. Two Capuchin monks 
came from Rome many years ago, and inquired of the 
head of the police after a hidden door which led under 
the ruins. He lent them his servant-boy, who, under 
their direction, removed the rubbish and found the door. 
It opened at the touch of the monks, and they entered 
with the servant. Passing through several rooms they 
reached one in which many persons were sitting and 
writing. Here they were courteously received ; and after 
a good deal of secret conference between the monks and 
their hosts, they were dismissed. When the servant 
came back to the upper air, he found he had been absent 
three whole years. Blanik is the name of a mountain in 
Bohemia, beneath which are lofty halls whose walls are 
entirely fashioned of rock-crystal. In these halls the 
Bohemian hero, the holy King Wenzel, sleeps with a 
chosen band of his knights, until some day the utmost 
need of his country shall summon him and them to her 
aid. A smith, who dwelt near the mountain, was once 

' Radloff, vol. i p. 95, vol. iv. p. 109 ; Sebillot, " Contes," vcl. ii. 
p. 8; Grimm, " Tales,'* vol. i. p. 162, 



THE SUrERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRVLAND. lyi 

mowing his meadow, when a stranger came and bade him 
follow him. The stranger led him into the mountain, 
where he beheld the sleeping knights, each one upon his 
horse, his head bent down upon the horse's neck. His 
guide then brought him tools that he might shoe the 
horses, but told him to beware in his work of knocking 
against any of the knights. The smith skilfully performed 
his work, but as he was shccing the last horse he acci- 
dentally touched the rider, who started up, crying out : 
" Is it time ? " " Not yet," replied he who had brought 
the smith thither, motioning the latter to keep quiet. 
When the task was done, the smith received the old shoes 
by way of reward. On returning home he was astonished 
to find two mowers at work in his meadow, whereas he 
had only left one there. From them he learned that he 
had been away a whole year ; and ivhen he opened his 
hag, behold the old horse-shoes were all of solid gold 1 
On Easter Sunday, during mass, the grey horse belonging 
to another peasant living at the foot of the Blanik dis- 
appeared. While in quest of him the owner found the 
mountain open, and, entering, arrived in the hall where 
the knights sat round a large table of stone and slept. 
Each of them wore black armour, save their chief, who 
shone in gold and bore three herons' feathers in his helm. 
Ever and anon one or other of the knights would look up 
and ask ; " Is it time ? " But on their chief shaking his 
head he would sink again to rest. While the peasant was 
I the midst of his astonishment he heard a neighing 
behind him ; and turning round he left the cavern. His 
horse was quietly grazing outside ; but when he got home 
every one shrank in fright away from him. His wife sat 
at the table in deep mourning. On seeing him she 
shrieked and asked : " Where have you been for a whole 
year?" He thought he had only been absent a single 
hour. A servant-man driving two horses over the Blanik 
heard the trampling of steeds and a battle-march played. 
, It was the knights returning from thek miwAC, 'if:i'KtoTj.. •, 



r 



172 



HE SCIliNCE OF FAIRV TALES. 



and the horses he was driving were so excited that he was I 
compelled to follow with them into the mountain, which 
then closed upon them. Nor did he reach home until | 
ten years had passed away, though he thought it had only ] 
been as many days.' 

We shall have occasion to return to Blanilc and its 
knights. Parallel traditions attach, as is well known, to 
the KyfFhauser, a mountain in Thuringia, where Frederick | 
Barbarossa sleeps. A peasant going with corn to market 
at Nordhausen, drove by the Kyffhauser, where he was | 
met by a little grey man, who asked him whither he w 
going, and offered to reward him if he would accompany I 
him instead. The little grey man led him through a | 
great gateway into the mountain till they came at last to 
a castle. There he took from the peasant his waggon and 
horses, and led him into a hall gorgeously illuminated and 
filled with people, where he was well entertained, 
last the little grey man told him it was now time he | 
went home, and rewarding him bountifully he led him 
forth. His waggon and horses were given to him again, 
and he trudged homeward well pleased. Arrived there, I 
liowever, his wife opened her eyes wide to see him, for he I 
had been absent a year, and she had long accounted him I 
dead. It fared not quite so well with a journeyman f 
joiner from Nordhausen, by name Thiele, who found the i 
mountain open, as it is every seven years, and went i 
There he saw the Marquis John (whoever he may have ] 
been), with his beard spreading over the table and his 1 
nails grown through it. Around the walls lay great 
wine-vats, whose hoops and wood had alike rolled away ; 
but the wine had formed its own shell and was blood-red. 
A little drop remained in the wine-glass which stood \ 
before the Marquis John. The joiner made bold to drain 
it off, and thereupon fell asleep. When he awoke again 1 
he had slept for seven years in the mountain." 
' Jahn, p. 199 ; Grohmann, pp. 19, ^ 18. 
' Kuhn und Schwartz, pp, zzo, 222. 



THE SUPERNATL'RAL lapse Of TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 



■73 



Curiosity and gceed caused: this-iBaa_tQ_lose_sevea--- 
I years of his life. This is a motive often met with in' 
1 these stories. A young girl during the midday rest 
a hay&eld in the Lavantthal, Carinthia, to cHmb the 
Schonofen, whence there is a fine view over the valley. 
As she reached the top she became aware of an open door 
' in the rock. She entered, and found herself in a cellar- 
like room. Two fine black steeds stood at the fodder- 
trough and fed off the finest oats. Marvelling how they 
got there , she put a few handfuls of the oats into her 
pocket, and passed on into a second chamber. A chest 
Stood there, and on the chest lay a black dog. Near him 
was a loaf of bread, in which a knife was stuck. With 
' ready wit she divined, or recollected, the purpose of the 
' bread ; and cutting a good slice she threw it to the dog. 
While he was busy devouring it she filled her apron from 
the treasure contained in the chest. But meantime the 
door closed, and there was nothing for it but to lie down 
and sleep. She awoke to find the door wide open, and at 
once made the best of her way home. But she was not a 
little astounded to learn that she had been gone for a 
whole year.' 

A Lapp tale presents this mysterious lapse of time as 
the sequel of an adventure similar to that of Ulysses with 
Polyphemus, An old I-app, having lost his way while 
hunting, came to a cottage. The door was open ; and he 
entered to remain there the night, and began to cook in 
a pot he carried with him the game he had caught that 
day. Suddenly a witch entered, and asked him : " What 
is your name?" "Myself," answered the Lapp ; and 
taking a spoonful of the boiling hquid he flung it in her 
face. She cried out: " Myself has burnt me I Myself has 
burnt me ! " " If you have burnt yourself you ought to 
suffer," answered her companion from the neighbouring 
mountain. The hunter was thus dehvered for the moment 
from the ivitch, who, however, as she went away, ex- 
' Rappold, p. 34. 



174 



THE SCIENCE OF I 



claimed : "Self has burnt me ; Self shall sleep till the 
new year I " When the Lapp had finished his repast he 
lay down to repose. On awaking he rummaged in his 
provision -sack : he found its contents mouldy and putrid. 
Nor couid he understand this before he got home and 
learned that he had been missing for six months.' 

This story is unlike the previous ones, inasmuch as ic 
represents the six months' disappearance as in no way 
due to any enticements, either of supernatural beings or 
of the hero's own passions. Neither music, nor dancing, 
neither greed nor curiosity, led him astray. The abori- 
ginal inhabitants of Japan in like manner tel! of a certain 
man who went out in his boat to fish and was carried off 
by a storm to an unknown land. The chief, an old man 
of divine aspect, begged him to stay there for the night, 
promising to send him home to his own country on the 
morrow. The promise was fulfilled by his being sent 
with some of the old chief's subjects who were going 
thither ; but the man ivas enjoined to lie down in the 
boat and cover up his head. When he reached his native 
place the sailors threw him into the water ; and ere he 
came to himself sailors and boat had disappeared. He 
had been away for a whole year ; and the chief appeared 
to him shortly afterwards in a dream, revealing himself 
as no human being, but the chief of the salmon, the 
divine fish ; and he required the man thenceforth to 
worship him. Curiously similar to the Japanese tale is 
a tale told to M. Sebillot by a cabin-boy of Saint Cast in 
Brittany. A fisherman caught one day the king of the 
fishes, in the shape of a small gilded fish, but was per- 
suaded to let him go under promise to send {such is the 
popular belief in the unselfishness of kings) at all times 
as many of his subjects as the fisherman wanted into his 
nets. The promise was royally fulfilled. More than this, 
when the fisherman's boat was once capsized by a storm 
the king of the fishes appeared, gave its drowning owner 
' "Archivio," voi. vi. p. 398, 



fH£ SUPERNAtuKAI 



' TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 



175 



I to drink from a bottle he had brought for the purpose, 
I and conveyed him under the water to his capital, — a 
I beautiful city whose streets, surpassing those of London 
in the traditions of English peasant children, were paved 
not only with gold but with diamonds and other gems. The 
L fisherman promptly filled his pockets with these paving- 
I stones ; and then the king politely told him : " When 
I you are tired of being with us, you have only to say so." 
I There is a limit to hospitality ; so the fisherman took the 
lliint, and told the king how delighted he should be to 
I remain there always, but that he had a wife and children 
1 at home who would think he was drowned. The king 
called a tunny and commanded him to take the fisherman 
on his back and deposit him on a rock near the shore, 
1 where the other fishers could see and rescue him. Then, 
L with the parting gift of an inexhaustible purse, he dis- 
[ missed his guest. When the fisherman got back to 
L his village he found he had been aivay more than 
[ si.x months. In the chapter on Changelings I had 
[ occasion to refer to some instances of women being 
[ carried ofF at a critical time in their lives. One more 
I such instance may be added here. Among the Bohe- 
I mians a mythical female called Polednice is believed to 
F be dangerous to women who have recently added to thj 
I population ; and such women are accordingly warned to 
I keep within doors, especially at noon and after the 
I angelus in the evening. On one occasion a woman, who 
scorned the warnings she had received, was carried off by 
I Polednice in the form of a whirlwind, as she sat in the 
harvest-field chatting with the reapers, to whom she had 
L brought their dinner. Only after a year and a day was 
t she permitted to return." 

I In some of the German and Bohemian tales a curious 
P incident occurs. Beneath the Rollberg, near Niemes, in 
['Bohemia, is a treasure- vault, the. door of which stands 
I ■ " F, L. JourDJil," vol. vi. p. 33; " Atchivio," vol. ii. \\ 233 



1^6 titfe SCIENCE OP t^AIRY tALES. 

Open for a short time every Palm Sunday. A woman 
once found it open thus and entered with her child. 
There she saw a number of Knights Templars sitting 
round a table, gambling. They did not notice her ; so 
she helped herself from a pile of gold lying near them, 
having first set down her child. Beside the gold lay a 
black dog, which barked from time to time. The woman 
knew that the third time it barked the door would close ; 
wherefore she hastened out. When she bethought her- 
self of the child it was too late : she had left it behind in 
her haste, and the vault was closed. The following year 
she returned at the hour when the door was open, and 
found the little one safe and sound, in either hand a fair 
red apple. Frequently in these tales a beautiful lady 
comes and ministers to the child during its mother^s 
absence ; at other times, a man. The treasure of King 
Darius is believed to be buried beneath the Sattelburg in 
Transylvania. A Wallachian woman, with her yearling 
babe in her arms, once found the door open and went in. 
There sat an old, long-bearded man, and about him stood 
chests full of silver and gold. She asked him if she 
might take some of this treasure for herself. ** Oh, yes," 
answered he, " as much as you like." She put down the 
child and filled her skirts with gold, put the gold outside 
and re-entered. Having obtained permission, she filled 
and emptied her skirts a second time. But when she 
turned to enter a third time the door banged-to, and she 
was left outside. She cried out for her child, and wept 
— in vain. Then she made her way to the priest and laid 
her case before him. He advised her to pray daily for a 
whole year, and she would then get her child again. She 
carried out his injunction ; and the following year she 
went again to the Sattelburg. The door was open, and 
she found the babe still seated in the chest where she had 
put it down. It was playing with a golden apple, which 
it held up to her, crying : "Look, mother, look ! " The 
mother was astonished to hear it speak, and asked : 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 



I 

^H " Whence hast thou that beautiful apple ? " " From the 
^H old man, who has given me to eat too." The man was, 
^^k however, no longer to be seen ; and as the mother took 
^^r her child and left the place, the door closed behind her." 
^B But the most numerous, and assuredly the most weird 
^^ and interesting, of these stories belong to a type which we 
may call, after the famous Posthumous Writing of Diedrich 
Knickerbocker, the "Rip van Winkle type." Here the 

I hero remains under the spell of the supernatural until he 
passes the ordinary terra of life ; and he comes back to 
find all his friends dead and himself nothing but a dim 
memory. It will be needless here to recapitulate the 
tale of Rip van Winkle himself. Whether any such 
legend really lingers about the Kaatskill mountains I do 
not know ; but I have a vehement suspicion that Wash- 
ington Irving was indebted rather to Otmar's " Traditions . 
^.the Hftrz,'' a book published at Bremen in the year 
1800. In this book the scene of the tale is laid on the 
Kyffliiluser, and with the exception of such embellish- 
ments as the keen tongue of Dame van Winkle and a few 
Others, the incidents in the adventures of Peter Claus the 
Goatherd are absolutely the same as those of Rip van 
Winkle." 
Of all the variants of this type it is in China that we 
find the one most resembling it. Wang Chih, afterwards 
one of the holy men of the Taoists, wandering one day in 
the mountains of Kii Chow to gather firewood, entered a 
grotto in which some aged men were playing at chess. - 
I He laid down his axe and watched their game, in the 
[ oaurse of which one of them handed him something in 
J size and shape like a date-stone, telling him to put it into 
I his mouth. No sooner had he done so than hunger and 
I thirst passed away. After some time had elapsed one of 
I the players said : " It is long since you came here ; you 
■-■should go home now," Wang Chih accordingly pro- 
" Grahmann, pp. 39, 289, 296, 298 ; Miiller, p. 83. 
' See Thorpe's IranslBtion of the sloiy, " YaVcTvieSUitiea;' ■?. WV 



1 



1 

178 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

ceeded to pick up his axe, but found that its handle had 

mouldered into dust ; and on reaching home he became ] 

aware that not hours, nor days, but centuries had passed ^' 

since he left it, and that no vestige of his kinsfolk remained. ^^M 

Another legend tells of a horseman who, riding over the ^^H 

hills, sees several old men playing a game with rushes. ^^M 

iHe ties his horse to a tree while he looks on at them. ^^M 

In a few minutes, as it seems to him, he turns to depart ; ^H 

but his horse is already a skeleton, and of the saddle and Igi 



\ 



ceeded to pick up his axe, but found that its handle had 
mouldered into dust ; and on reaching home he became 
that not hours, nor days, but centuries had passed 
since he left it, and that no vestige of his kinsfolk remained. 
Another legend tells of a horseman who, riding over the 
hills, sees several old men playing a game with rushes. 
He ties his horse to a tree while he looks on at them. 
In a few minutes, as it seems to him, he turns to depart ; 
but his horse is already a skeleton, and of the saddle and 
bridle rotten pieces only are left. He seeks his home ; 
but that too is gone ; and he lies down and dies broken- 
hearted. A similar story is told in Japan of a man who 
goes into the mountains to cut wood, and watches two 
mysterious ladies playing at chess while seven generations 
- of mortal men pass away. Both these legends omit the 
"supernatural food which seems to support life, not only 
in the case of Wang Chih, but also in that of Peter 
Clans. In anotlier Chinese tale two friends, wandering 
in the T'ien-t'aJ mountains, are entertained by twO 
beautiful girls, who feed them on a kind of haschisch, a 
drug made from hemp ; and when they return they find 
that they have passed seven generations of ordinary men 
in the society of these ladies. Another Taoist devotee 
was admitted for a while into the next world, where he 
was fed on cakes, and, as if he were a dyspeptic, he received 
much comfort from having all his digestive organs 
removed, After awhile he was sent back to this world, 
to find himself much younger than his youngest grand- 
soi.' 

Feasts in Fairyland occupy an unconscionable length 
of time. Walter Map, writing in the latter half of the 
twelfth century, relates a legend concerning a mythical 
British king, Hcrla, who was on terms of friendship with 
the king of the pigmies. The latter appeared to him one 
day riding on a goat, a man such as Pan might have been 
described to be, with a very large head, a fiery face, and 
■ Dennjs, i>. 98 ; Giles, vol. ii. pp. 89 nole, 85 ; Brauns, p. 366. 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAI-Se OK TIME IN fAtRVLANt). 179 

a long red beard. A spotted fawn-skin adorned his 
breast, but the lower part of his body was exposed and 
shaggy, and his legs degenerated into goat's feet. This 
queer little fellow declared himself very near akin to 
Herla, foretold that the king of the Franks was about to 
send ambassadors offering his daughter as wife to the 
king of the Britons, and invited himself to the wedding. 
He proposed a pact between them, that when he had 
attended Herla's wedding, Herla should the following 
year attend his. Accordingly at Herla's wedding the 
pigmy king appears with a vast train of courtiers and 
servants, and numbt-rs of precious gifts. The next year 
he sends to bid Herla to his own wedding. Herla goes. 
Penetrating a mountain cavern, he and his followers 
emerge into the light, not of sun or moon, but of 
innumerable torches, and reach the pigmies' dwellings, j 
whose splendour Map compares with Ovid's description ' 
of the palace of the sun. Having given so charming, and ' 
doubtless so accurate, a portrait of the pigmy king, it is a 
pity the courtier-like ecclesiastic has forgotten to inform 
us what his bride was like. He leaves us to guess that 
her attractions must have corresponded with those of her 
stately lord, telling us simply that when the wedding was 
over, and the gifts which Herla brought had been pre- 
sented, he obtained leave to depart, and set out for home, 
laden, he too, ivith gifts, among which are enumerated 
horses, dogs, hawks, and other requisites of a handsome 
outfit for hunting or fowling. Indeed, the bridegroom 
himself accompanied them as far as the darkness of the 
cavern through which they had to pass ; and at parting he 
added to his presentations that of a bloodhound, so small 
as to be carried, forbidding any of the train to alight 
anywhere until the hound should leap from his bearer. 
When Herla found himself once more within his own 
realm he met with an old shepherd, and inquired for 
tidings of his queen by name. The shepherd looked at 
him astonished, scarcely understanding bis, s^e.aAx-,i<i\\v«. 



l80 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TAL£S. 

was a Saxon, whereas Herla was a Briton. Nor, as he 
told the king, had he heard of such a queen, unless it 
were a queen of the former Britons, whose husband, 
Herla, was said to have disappeared at yonder rock with 
a dwarf, and never to have been seen again. That, how- 
ever, was long ago, for it was now more than two hun- 
dred years since the Britons had been driven out and the 
Saxons had taken possession of the land. The king was 
stupefied, for he deemed he had only been away three 
days, and could hardly keep his seat. Some of his 
followers, forgetful of the pigmy king's prohibition, 
alighted without waiting for the dog to lead the way, and 
were at once crumbled into dust. Herla and those who 
were wiser took warning by the fate of their companions. 
One story declared that they were wandering still ; and 
many persons asserted that they had often beheld the 
host upon its mad, its endless journey. But Map con- 
cludes that the last time it appeared was in the year of 
King Henry the Second's coronation, when it was seen 
by many Welshmen to plunge into the Wye in Hereford- 
shire.^ 

Cases in which dancing endures for a whole twelve- 
month have already been mentioned. This might be 
thought a moderate length of time for a ball, even for a 
fairy ball ; but some have been known to last longer. 
Two celebrated fiddlers of Strathspey were inveigled by a 
venerable old man, who ought to have known better, into 
a little hill near Inverness, where they supplied the 
music for a brilliant assembly which lasted in fact for a 
hundred years, though to them it seemed but a few hours. 
They emerged into daylight again on a Sunday ; and 
when they had learned the real state of affairs, and 
recovered from their astonishment at the miracle which 
had been wrought in them, they went, as was meet, to 
church. They sat listening for awhile to the ringing of 
the bells ; but when the clergyman began to read the 
' Map, Dist. i. c. ii. But see below, p. 234. 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRVLAMD. iSl 

gospel, at the first word he uttered they both fell into 
dust. This is a favourite form of the legend in Wales as 
well as Scotland ; but, pathetic and beautiful as the various 
versions are, they present no variations of importance.' 

Often the stranger's festive visit to Fairyland is rounde3^^ 
ivith a sleep. We have seen this in the instance of Rip van 
Wiukle. Another legend has been put into literary form 
by Washington Irving,_lhis__tinie from a. Portuguese 
source. It relates the adventures of a noble youth who 
set out to find an island in which some of the former 
inhabitants of the Peninsula had taken refuge at the 
;inie of the Moorish conquest, and where their descend- 
ants still dwelt. The island was believed to contain 
seven cities ; and the adventurer was appointed by the 
king of Portugal Adalantado, or governor, of the Seven 
Cities. He reached the island, and was received as 
Adalantado, was feasted, and then fell asleep. When he 
came to himself again he was on board a homeward- 
bound vessel, having been picked up senseless from a 
drifting wreck. He reached Lisbon, but no one knew 
him. His ancestral mansion was occupied by others : 
e of his name had dwelt in it for many a year. He 
hurried to his betrothed, only to fling himself, not, as he 
thought, at her feet, but at the feet of her great-grand- 
daughter. In cases like this the supernatural lapse of 
time may be conceived as taking place during the 

ich anted sleep, rather than during the festivities. - 
According to a Coptic Christian romance, Abimelek, the 
youthful favourite of King Zedekiah, preserved the pro- 
phet Jeremiah's life when he was tlirown into prison, and 
afterwards persuaded his master to give him charge of 
the prophet, and to permit him to release him from the 
dungeon. In reward, Jeremiah promised him that he 
should never see the destruction of Jerusalem, nor 
experience the Babylonish captivity, and yet that he 

' Croker, vol. iii. p. 17; Howdls, p. laj ; "Y C^smmiAot" ■lOi.. 
^ Iv. p. 196, voL V. fp. 108, 113. 



1 



1 82 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

should not die. The sun should take car j of him, the 
atmosphere nourish him ; the earth on which he slept 
should give him repose, and he should taste of joy for 
seventy years until he should again see Jerusalem in its 
glory, flourishing as before. Accordingly, going out one 
day, as his custom was, into the royal garden to gather 
grapes and figs, God caused him to rest and fall asleep 
beneath the shadow of a rock. There he lay peacefully 
slumbering while the city was besieged by Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and during the horrors of its capture and the 
whole of the seventy sad years that followed. When he 
awoke, it was to meet the prophet Jeremiah returning 
from the captivity, and he entered the restored city with 
him in triumph. But'the seventy years had seemed to him 
but a few hours ; nor had he known anything of what 
passed while he slumbered. Mohammed in the Koran 
mentions a story referred by the commentators to Ezra. 
He is represented as passing by a village (said to mean 
Jerusalem) when it was desolate, and saying : " How will 
God revive this after its death ? ■* And God made him 
die for a hundred years. Then He raised him and asked : 
" How long hast thou tarried ? '^ Said the man : " I have 
tarried a day, or some part of a day." But God said : 
" Nay, thou hast tarried a hundred years. Look at thy 
food and drink, they are not spoiled ; and look at thine 
ass ; for we will make thee a sign to men. And look at 
the bones, how we scatter them and then clothe them 
with flesh." And when it was made manifest to him, he 
said : " I know that God is mighty over all." * 

Mohammed probably was unconscious that this is to all 
intents and purposes the same story as that of the Seven 
Sleepers, to which he refers in the chapter on the Cave. 
Some of the phrases he uses are, indeed, identical. As 

' " Wolfert's Roost, and other Sketches," by Washington Irving 
(London, 1855) p. 225; Ara^lineau, vol. ii. p. iii ; Koran, c. 2 
/'* Sacred Books of the East," vol. vi. p. 41) ; " Masnavi i Ma*navi," 
p. 21^, 



■"^ 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. ISJ 

usually told, this legend speaks of seven, youths of Ephesm 
who had fled from the persecutions of the heathen 
emperor Decius, and taken refuge in a cave, where they 
slept for upwards of three hundred years. In Mohammed's 
time, however, it should be noted, the number of the 
sleepers was undetermined ; they were credited with a 
dog who slept with them, like Ezra's ass ; and Mohammed's 
notion of the time they slept was only one hundred years. 
One of the wild tribes on the northern frontier of 
Afghanistan is said to tell the "ffiHowiiig story concerning 
a caverain the Hirak Valley, known as tlie'cave of the 
Seven Sleepers. A king bearing the suspicious name of 
Dakianus, deceived by the devil, set himself up as a god. 
Six of his servants, however, having reason to think that 
his claim was unfounded, fled from him and fell in with a 
shepherd, who agreed to throw in his lot with theirs and 
to guide them to a cavern where they might all hide. 
The shepherd's dog followed his master ; but the six 
fugitives insisted on his being driven back lost he should 
bstray their whereabouts. The shepherd begged that he 
might go with them, as he had been his faithful com- 
panion for years ; but in vain. So he struck the dog 
ivith his stick, breaking one of his legs. The dog still 
followed ; and the shepherd repeated the blow, breaking 
a second leg. Finding that the dog continued to crawl 
after them notivith.standing this, the men were struck 
with pity and took it in turns to carry the poor animal. 
Arrived at the cave, they all lay down and slept for three 
hundred and nine years. Assuming the genuineness of the 
tradition, which perhaps rests on no very good authority, 
its form is obviously due to Mohammedan influence. But 
the belief in this miraculous sleep is traceable beyond 
Christian and Mohammedan legends into the Paganism 
of classical antiquity. Pliny, writing in the first century 
of our era, alludes to a story told of the Cretan poet 
Epimenides, who, when a boy, fell asleep in a cave, and 
continuei in that state for fifty-seven, ^eata. Oa.'«-iK»\'^ 



184 THE SCrENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

he was greatly surprised at the change in the appearance 
of everything around him, as he thought he had only 
slept for a few hours ; and though he did not, as in the 
' Welsh and Scottish tales, fajl into dust, still old age came 
upon hiiii in as many days as t~he years he had passed in 
slumber." 

Nor is it only in dancing, feasting, or sleeping that the 
time passes quickly with supernatural foIET A shepherd 
at the foot of the Blanik, who missed one of his flock, 
followed it into a cavern, whence he could not return 
because the mountain closed upon him with a crash, A 
dwarf came and led him into a large hall. There he saw 
King Wcnzd sleeping with his knights. The king 
awoke, and bade him stay and clean the armour. One 
day — perhaps the criticism would be too carping which 
inquired how he knew the day from the night — he 
received permission to go, and a bag which he was told 
contained his reward. When he reached the light of day, 
he opened the bag and found it filled with oats. In the 
village all was changed, for he had been a hundred years 
in the mountain, and nobody knew him. He succeeded 
in getting a lodging, and on again opening his bag, lo ! 
all the grains of oats had turned to gold pieces and thalers, 
so that he was able to buy a fine house, and speedily 
became the richest man in the place. This was a plea- 
santer fate than that of the Tirolese peasant who followed 
his herd under a stone, where they had all disappeared. 
He presently came into a lovely garden ; and there a lady 
came, and, inviting him to cat, olTcred to take him as 
gardener. He readily assented ; but after some weeks he 
began to be homesick, and, taking leave of his mistress, 
went home. On arriving there he was astounded 
that he knew no one, and no one knew him, save an old 

■ Koran, c. 18 (" Sacred Boolis of ihc East," \ol. ix. p. 14) ; 
"Indian N. and Q." voi. iv. p. 8, quoting the "Pall Mall Gazette" 
(The story of the Seven Sleepers is also localized at N'gaous in Algeria ; 
Certeux et Caraoy, vol. i- p. 63.) riiny, " Nat. Hist." 1, vii. c. 33. 



I THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 185 

I crone, who at length came to him and said : " Where 
1 have you been ? I have been looking for you for two 
I hundred years." Thus saying, she took him by the hand 
L and he fell dead ; for the crone who had sought him so 

long was Death," 

Save in the legends that tell of a mother leaving her 

child in the mountain from her eagerness to gather 

treasure, we have encountered but few instances of 
[ women being beguiled. They are, indeed, not so 
I numerous as those where the sterner sex is thus over- 
[ come ; nor need we be detained by most of them. A 
[ Danish tradition, however, runs that a bride, during the 
I dancing and festivities of her wedding-day, left the room 
I and thoughtlessly walked towards a mound where the 
I elves were also making merry. The hillock was standing, 
I as is usual on such occasions, on red pillars ; and as she 
I drew near, one of the company offered her a cup of 
[ wine. She drank, and then suffered herself to join in 
[ a dance. When the dance was over she hastened 

home. But alas ! house, farm, everything was changed. 
I The noise and mirth of the wedding was stilled. No 
I one knew her ; but at length, on hearing her lanienta- 
I tion, an old woman exclaimed : " Was it you, then, who 
I disappeared at my grandfather's brother's wedding, a 
I hundred years ago?" At these words the aged bride 
I fell down and expired. A prettier, if not a more pathetic, 
I story is widely current on the banks of the Rhine. A 
I maiden who bore an excellent character for jiiety and 
[ goodness was about to be married. She was fond of 

roses ; and on the wedding morning she stepped into 
I the garden to gather a small bunch. There she met a 

man whom she did not know- He admired two lovely 
I blossoms which she had, but said he had many finer in 
L his garden : would she not go with him ? " I cannot," 
I she said ; " I must go to the ehurch : it is high time." 
I " It is not far," urged the stranger. The maiden allowed 
L ■ Crohmuim, p. 16 ; SchoeWei, '^. 211. 



1 



I 



1 86 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

herself to be persuaded ; and the man showed her beautiful, 
beautiful flowers — ^finer she had never seen — and gave her 
a wonderful rose of which she was very proud. Then 
she hastened back, lest she should be too late. When 
she mounted the steps of the house she could not under- 
stand what had happened to her. Children whom she 
knew not were playing there : people whom she did not 
recognize were within. And every one ran away from 
her, frightened to see a strange woman in an antiquated 
wedding-dress stand there bitterly weeping. She had 
but just left her bridegroom to go for a moment into the 
garden, and in so short a time guests and bridegroom 
had all vanished. She asked after her bridegroom, and 
nobody knew him. At last she told her story to the 
folk around her." A man said he had bought the house, 
and knew nothing at all of her bridegroom or her 
parents. They took her to the parish priest. He reached 
his church-books down, and there he found recorded that 
almost twojiundred years before, a certain bride on the 
weddmg^ay had: ndhappeared from her father^s house. 
Burdened thus with two centuries of life, she lingered 
on a few lonely years, and then sank into the grave ; 
and the good, simple villagers whisper that the strange 
gardener was no other than the Lord Jesus, who thus 
provided for His humble child an escape from a union 
which would have been the source of bitterest woe. 
After this it is almost an anti-climax to refer to a Scottish 
tale in which a bridegroom was similarly spirited away. 
As he was leaving the church after the ceremony, a tall 
dark man met him and asked him to come round to the 
back of the church, for he wanted to speak to him. 
When he complied, the dark man asked him to be good 
enough to stand there until a small piece of candle he 
held in his hand should burn out. He good-humouredly 
complied. The candle took, as he thought, less than two 
minutes to burn ; and he then rushed off to overtake 
his friends. On Jiis way he sa^N a mau cutting turf, 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAp[il! OF TIME IN TAIRYLAND. 187 

and asked if it were long since the wedjing party had 
passed. Tlio man replied that he did not know that 
any wedding party had passed that way to-day, or for 
a long time. " Oh, there was a marriage to-day," said 
the other, "and I am the bridegroom. I was asked by 
a man to go with him to the back of the church, and 
I went, r am now running to overtake the party." 
The turf-cutter, feeling that this could not be, asked 
him what date he supposed that day was. The bride- 
groom's answer was in fact two hundred years short of -i 
the real date : he had passed two centuries in those two j 
minutes which the bit of candle took, as he thought, to 
burn. "I remember," said he who cut the turf, " that 
my grandfather used to tell something of such a disappear- 
ance of a bridegroom, a story which his grandfather told 
him as a fact which happened when he was young." 
"Ah, well then, I am the bridegroom," sighed the 
unfortunate man, and fell away as h'j stood, unt^ nothing,^ -' 
remained but a small heap of earth.' , - ■<■" 

Every reader of Longfellow loves the story of the Moak 
Fehx, so exquisitely told in " The Golden Legend.- Its 
immediate source I do not know ; but it is certain that 
the tradition is a genuine one, and has obtained a local 
habitation in many parts of Europe. Southey relates 
it as attached to the Spanish convent of San Salvador 
de Villar, where the tomb of the Abbot to whom the 
adventure happened was shown. And he is very severe 
on "the dishonest monks who, for the honour of their 
convent and the lucre of gain, palmed this lay {for such 
in its origin it was) upon their neighbours as a true 
legend." In Wales, the ruined monastery at Glynnog- 
Fawr, on the coast of Carnan'on shire, founded by St. 
Beuno, the uncle of the more famous St. Winifred, has 

■ Thotpe, vol. ii. p. 138; BirUnger, "Volksl." vol, L p. 25? ('/• 
Barlsch, vol. i- p. 316, whure there is no weddinEp and curiosity is Ihe 
lady's motive for veiiluring into the faity cavern) ; " CcltitMa^j," CiCi.. 
1887, p. 566. 



r 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

been celebrated by a Welsh antiquary as the scene of 
the same event, in memory whereof a woodland patch 
near Clynnog is said to be called Llwyn-y-Nef, the 
Grove of Heaven, At Pantshonshenkin, in Carmarthen- 
shire, a youth went out early one summer's morning 
and was lost. An old woman, Catti Madlen, prophesied 
of him that he was in the fairies' power and would not 
be released until the last sap of a certain sycamore tree 
had dried up. When that time came he returned. He 
had been listening all the while to the singing of a bird, 
and supposed only a few minutes had elapsed, though 
seventy years had in fact gone over his head. In the 
Mabinogi of Branwen, daughter of LJyr, Pryderi and his 
companions, while bearing the head of Bran the Blessed, 
to bury it in the White Mount in London, were enter- 
tained seven years at Harlech, feasting and listening to 
the singing of the three birds of Rhiannon — a mythical 
figure in whom Professor Rhys can hardly be wrong in 
seeing an old Celtic goddess. In Germany and the Nether- 
lands the story is widely spread. At the abbey of AfHig- 
hem, Fulgentius, who was abbot toivards the close of the 
eleventh century, received the announcement one day 
that a stranger monk had knocked at the gate and 
claimed to be one of the brethren of that cloister. His 
story was that he had sung matins that morning with 
the rest of the brotherhood ; and when they came to 
the verse of the goth Psalm where it is said : " A 
thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday," he 
had fallen into deep meditation, aud continued sitting 
in the choir when the others had departed, and that a 
little bird had then appeared to him and sung so sweetly 
that he had followed it into the forest, whence, after a 
short stay, he had now returned, but found the abbey 
so changed that he hardly knew it. On questioning him 
about his abbot and the name of the king whom he 
supposed to be still reigning, Fulgentius found that both 
bad been dead for three hundred years. The same tale 



The supernatural lapse of time in fairyland. 189 

is told of other monasteries. In Transylvania it is told 
concerning a student of the school at Kronstadt that he 
was to preach on the fifteenth Sunday after Trinity in 
St. John's Church, now known as the Church of the 
Franciscans, and on the Saturday previous he walked . 
out on the Kapdlenberg to rehearse his sermon.' After 
he had learned it he saw a beautiful bird, and tried to 
catch it. It led him on and on into a cavern, where he 
met a dwarf, who showed the astonished and curious 
student all the wealth of gold and jewels stored up in 
the vaults of the mountain. When he escaped again 
to the upper air the trees and the houses were altered ; 
other and unknown faces greeted him at the school ; his 
own room was changed — taken by another ; a different 
rector ruled ; and in short a hundred years liad elapsed 
since he had gone forth to study his sermon for the 
next day. The old record-book, bound in pigskin, re- 
led on the rector's shelves. He took it down : it 
contained an entry of the student's having quitted the 
school and not returned, and of the difficulty caused 
thereby at St. John's Church, where he was to have 
preached the following day. By the time the entry was 
found and the mystery solved, it was noon. The student 
was hungry with his hundred -years' fast ; and he sat 
down with the others at the common table to dine. 
But he had no sooner tasted the first spoonful of soup 
than his whole frame underwent a change. From a 
ruddy youth he became an old man in the last stage 
of decrepitude. His comrades scarce had time to hurry 
him upon a bed ere he breathed his last. Some pretty 
verses, attributed to Alaric A. Watts, commemorate a 
similar incident, said to have happened to two sisters 
who were nuns at Beverley Minister. They disappeared 
one evening after vespers. After some months they 
were found in a trance in the north tower. On being 
aroused they declared they had been admitted into 
Paradise, whither they would TetUTYV \ieScitfe TO.Qt™\^. 



1 



iv^ 



1 



r 

I 



190 



I'Rfe SCIfetiCE Oi" FAIRV TALES. 



They died ia the night ; and the beautiful monument 
called the Sisters' Shrine still witnesses to the truth of 
their story.' 

From monastic meditations we may pass without any 
long interval to a type of the story that perhaps appears 
at its best in M. Luzel's charming coUectiuii of distinctively 
Christian traditions of Lower Brittany. In this type we 
are given the adventures of a youth who undertakes to 
carry a letter to " Moiisieiir le Brm Dieu " in Paradise. 
Proceeding by the directions of a hermit, he is guided by 
a ball to the hermit's brother, who points out the road and 
describes the various difficulties through which he will 
have to pass. Accordingly he climbs the mountain before 
him ; and the path then leads him across an arid meadow 
filled with fat cattle, and next over a lush pasture tenanted 
only by lean and sickly kine. Having left this behind 
he enters an avenue where, under the trees, youths and 
damsels richly clad are feasting and making merry ; and 
they tempt the traveller to join them. The path then 
becomes narrow and steep, and encumbered with brambles 
and nettles and stones. Here he meets a rolling fire, but 
standing firm in the middle of the path, the fire passes 
harmlessly over his head. Hardly has it gone by, how- 
ever, when he hears a terrible roar behind him, as though 
the sea in al! its fury were at his heels ready to engulf 
him. He resolutely refuses to look back ; and the noise 
subsides. A thick hedge of thorns closes the way before 
him ; but he pushes through it, only to fall into a ditch 
filled with nettles and brambles on the other side, where 
he faints with loss of blood. When he recovers and 
scrambles out of the ditch, he reaches a place filled with 

■ Southey, " Doc lor," p. 574; "VEiython," vo). iii. p. HI, and 
Cymru Fu, p. 1S3 ; llowells, p. 127; "Y Lljvyr Coch," p. 40 
(Lady Chailotte Guest's translalion, p. 381); Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 
397, quoting Wolf; Miiller, p. 50 {ef. Jahn, p. 96). The reader will not 
fail to remark the record-book bound io pigskin iis a resemblance ii 
delail to Longfellow's veiaion. Thorjie alludes in a note to a Genoaa 
poem by Wegener, which I have not seen. Nicholson, p. 58. 



r 



HE SUFERKATUJiAL lAPSE Df TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 19I 

the sweet perfume of flowers, with butterflies, and with 
the melody of birds. A clear river waters this beautiful 
land ; and there he sits upon a stone and bathes his cruelly 
torn feet. No wonder he falls asleep and dreams that he 
is already in Paradise. Awaking, he finds his strength 
restored, and his wounds healed. Before him is Mount 
Calvary, the Saviour still upon the cross, and the blood 
yet running from His body. A crowd of little children 
are trying to cUmb the mountain ; but ere they reach the 
top they roll down again continually to the foot, only to 
recommence the toil. They crowd round the traveller, 
and beseech him to take them with him ; and he takes 
three, one on each shoulder and one by the hand ; but 
with them he cannot get to the top, for he is buried back 
again and again. Leaving them therefore behind, he 
climbs with ease, and throws himself at the foot of the 
cross to pray and weep. On rising, he sees before him a 
palace that proves to be Paradise itself. St. Peter, the 
celestial porter, receives his letter and carries it to its" "" 
destination. While the youth waits, he finds St. Peter's 
spectacles on the table and amuses himself by trying them 
on. Many and marvellous are the things they reveal to 
him ; but the porter comes back, and he hastily takes off 
the glasses, fearing to be scolded. St. Peter, however, 
tells him : " Fear nothing, my child. You have already 
been looking through my glasses for five hundred years ! " 
" But I have only just put them on my nose ! " " Yes, 
my child," returned the door-keeper, " it is five hundred 
years, and I see you find the time short." After this it ' 
is a trifle that he spends another hundred years looking 
at the seat reserved for himself in Paradise and thinks 
them only a moment. The Eternal Father's reply to 
the letter is handed to him ; and since his master and the 
king who sent him on tbe errand have both long been 
dead and in Paradise (though on lower seats than that 
which he is to occupy), he is bidden to take the reply to 
his parish prices. The priest will in retutn. \iM\4.\vvtQ.-4. 



192 



The science of fairy tales. 



hundred crowns, which he is to give to the poor, and 
when the last penny lias been distributed he will die and 
enter Paradise, to obtain the seat he has been allowed to , 
see. As he makes his way back, one of the hermits i 
explains to him the various sights he beheld and the 
difficulties he conquered during his outward journey. I 
shall not stop to unveil the allegories of this traditional | 
Pilgrim's Progress, which is known from Brittany to 
-~ Iran sylvan kj^ from Iceland to Sicily. Other Breton tales 
exist, describing a similar journey, in all of which the ' 
miraculous lapse of time is an incident. In one the 
youth is sent to the sun to inquire why it is red in the 
morning when it rises. In another a maiden is married 
to a mysterious stranger, who turns out to be Death. 
Her brother goes to visit her, and is allowed to accompany 
her husband on his daily flight, in the course of which he 
sees a number of remarkable sights, each one of them a 
parable." 

A story is told at Glienke, near New Brandenburg, of 
two friends who made mutual promises to attend one 
another's weddings. One was married, and his friend 
kept his word ; but before the latter's turn to marry 
came the married man had fallen into want, and under 
the pressure of need had committed robbery, a crime for 
which he had been hanged. Shortly afterwards his friend 
was about to be married ; and his way a few days before, 
in the transaction of his business, led him past the 
gallows where the body still swung. As he drew near 
he murmured a Paternoster for the dead man, and said : 
" At your wedding I enjoyed myself ; and you promised 
me to come to mine, and now you cannot come I " A 

■ Luzel, "Legendes Chret." vol. i. pp. 225, 216, 247, 249; 
"Ccmtes," vol. i. pp. 14, 40; if. PUte, vol. vi. p. i; and 
Gonzenbach, vol. ii. p. 171, in neither of which the lapse of time Is an 
incident. Dr, Pitte says that the (ale has no analogues (HscoiUri) 
outside Sicily ; liy which I tindcraland him to mean thnt it has not been 
Jiilierlo found in any other Italiau-speaking land. 



THE SUPERNATURAL, LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRyLAND, I93 

vuicu from thi; gallows distinctly replied : " Yes, I will 
come." To the wedding feast accordingly the dead man 
came, with the rope round his neck, and was placed 
between the pastor and the sacristan. He ate and drank in 
silence, and departed. As he left, he beckoned the bride- 
groom to follow him ; and when they got outside the 
village the hanged man said : " Thanks to your Pater- 
noster, I am saved." They walked a little further, and 
the bridegroom noticed that the country was unknown 
to him. They were in a large and beautiful garden. 
" Will you not return ? " asked the dead man ; " they will 
miss you." "Oh ! let me stay ; it is so lovely here," 
replied his friend. " Know that we are in Paradise ; you 
cannot go with me any further. Farewell ! " So saying , 
the dead man vanished. Then the bridegroom turned 
back ; but he did not reach the village for three days. 
There all was changed. He asked after his bride : no one 
knew her. He sought the pastor and found a stranger. 
When he told his tale the pastor searched the church- 
books and discovered that a man of his name had been 
married one hundred and fifty years before. The bride- 
groom asked for food ; but when he had eaten it he sank 
into a heap of ashes at the pastor's feet. The Transyl- 
vanian legend of " The Gravedigger in Heaven " also turns 
upon an invitation thoughtlessly given to a dead man 
and accepted. The entertainment is followed by a 
counter-in vital ion ; and the gravedigger is forced to pay a 
return visit. He is taken to Heaven, where, among other 
things, he sees at intervals three leaves fall slowly one 
aftur another from off a large tree in the garden. The 
tree is the Tree of Life, from which a leaf falls at the end 
of every century. He was three hundred years in Heaven 
and thought it scarce an hour. The Icelandic version 
concerns a wicked priest. His unjust ways arc reproved 
by a stranger who takes him to the place of joy and the 
place of torment, and shows him other wonderful things 
guch a-i the youth in the Breton tale \.^ ^wcSifW.^ \K^ 



194 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

behold. When he is brought back, and the stranger 
leaves him, he fiuds that he has been absent seven years, 
and his living is now held by another priest,' 

Here, perhaps, is a fitting place to mention the Happy 
Islands of Everlasting Life as known to Japanese tradition, 
though the story can hardly be said to belong to the typt> 
we have just discussed,^ perhaps not strictly to any of 
the foregoing types. A Japanese hero, the wise Vasobiove, 
it was who succeeded in reaching the Happy Islands, and 
in returning to bring sure tidings of them. For, like St. 
Brendan's Isle in western lore, these islands may be 
visible for a moment and afar off to the seafarer, but a 
mortal foot has hardly ever trodden them. Vasobiove, 
however, in his boat alone, set sail from Nagasaki, and, in 
spite of wind and waves, landed on the green shore of 
Horaisan. Two hundred years he sojourned there ; 
yet wist he not how long the period was, there where 
everything remained the same, where there was neither 
birth nor death, where none heeded the flight of time. 
With dance and music, in intercourse with wise men and 
lovely women, his days passed away. But at length he 
grew weary of this sweet round of existence : he longed 
for death — an impossible wish in a land where death was 
unknown. No poison, no deadly weapons were to be 
found. To tumble down a chasm, or to fiing oneself on 
sharp rocks was no more than a fall upon a soft cushion. 
If he would drown himself in the sea, the water refused 
its office, and bore him like a cork. AVeary to death the 
poor Vasobiove could find no help. In this need a 
thought struck him : he caught and tamed a giant stork 
and taught him to carry him. On the back of this bird 
he returned over sea and land to his beloved Japan, 
bringing the news of the realm of Horaisan. His story 
took hold of the hearts of his fellow-countrymen ; and 
that the story-tellers might never forget it, it has been 

■ Banseh, vol. i. p. 282 ; Miillcr, p. 46 ; Powell and Magnusson, 
vol. ii. p. 37. 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 1 95 

emblazoned by the painters in a thousand ways. Nor 
can the stranger go anywhere in Japan without seeing the 
old, old man depicted on his stork and being reminded of 
his voyage to the Happy Islands.^ 

' Brauns, p. 146. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME L\ FAIRYLAND 

{continued). 

Ossian in the Tir na n'Og— The Island of Happiness — The Mermaid 
— Thomas of Erceldoune — Olger the Dane — The Sleeping Hero 
— King Arthur — Don Sebastian — The expected deliverer — British 
variants — German variants — Frederick Barbarossa — Nameless 
heroes — Slavonic variants. 

The stories we have hitherto considered, relating to the 
supernatural lapse of time in fairyland, have attributed 
the mortal's detention there to various motives. Com- 
pulsion on the part of the superhuman powers, and 
pleasure, curiosity, greed, sheer folly, as also the per- 
formance of just and willing service on the part of the 
mortal, have been among the causes of his entrance 
thither and his sojourn amid its enchantments. 
Human nature could hardly have been what it is if 
the supreme passion of love had been absent from the 
list. Nor is it wanting, though not found in the same 
plenteous measure that will meet us when we come to 
deal with the Swan-maiden myth — that is to say, with 
the group of stories concerning the capture by men of 
maidens of superhuman birth. 

We may take as typical the story of Oisin, or Ossian, 
as told in Ireland, In County Clare it is said that once 
when he was in the full vigour of youth Oisin lay down 
under a tree to rest and fell asleep. Awaking with a 
start, he saw a lady richly clad, and of more than mortal 
beauty, gazing on him. She^was the Queen of Tir m 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 157 ^ 

n'Og, the Country of Perpetual Youtli. She had fallen 
in love with Oisin, as the strange Italian lady is said to 
have done with a poet of whose existence we are some- 
what better assured than of Oisin's ; and she invited 
him to accompany her to her own realm and share her 
throne. Oisin was not long in making up his mind, and 
all the delights of Tir na n'Og were laid at his feet. In 
one part of the palace garden, however, was a broad flat 
atone, on which he was forbidden to stand, under penalty 
of the heaviest misfortune. Probably, as is usual in 
these cases, if he had not been forbidden, he would 
never have thought of standing on it. But one day 
finding himself near it, the temptation to transgress was 
irresistible. He yielded, and stepping on the stone he 
found himself in full view of his native land, the very 
existence of which he had forgotten till that moment. 
Even in the short space of time since he left it much 
liad changed : it was suiFering from oppression and 
violence. Overcome with grief, he hastened to the 
queen and prayed for leave to go back, that he might 
help his people. The queen tried to dissuade him, but 
in vain. She asked him how long he supposed he had 
been absent. Oisin told her ; " Thrice seven days." She 
replied that three times thrice seven years had passed 
since he arrived in Tir na n'Og ; and though Time could 
not enter that land, it would immediately assert its 
dominion over .him if he left it. At length she 
persuaded him to promise that he would return to his 
country for one day only, and then come back to dwell 
with her for ever. She accordingly gave him a buautiful 
jet-black horse, from whose back he was on no account 
to alight, or at all events not to allow the bridle to fall 
from his hand ; and in parting she gifted him with 
wisdom and knowledge far surpassing that of men. 
Mounting the steed, he soon found himself near his 
former home ; and as he journeyed he met a n\a.\\ i^wYcv^ 
a horse, across whose back was tViTOwu a, ^as^ "A t^st^. 



198 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

The sack had fallen a little aside ; and the man asked 
Oisiii to assUt him in balancing it properly, Oisin, 
good-naturedly stooping, caught it and gave it such a 
heave that it fell over on the other side. Annoyed at 
his ill-success, he forgot his bride's commands, and sprang 
from the horse to lift the sack from the ground, letting 
go the bridle at the same lime. Forthwith the steed 
vanished ; and Oisin instantly became a bhnd, feeble, 
helpless old man — everything lost but the wisdom and 

" knowledge bestowed upon him by his immortal bride.' 
A variant adds some particulars, from which it appears 
that Oisin was not only husband of the queen, but al.so 
rightful monarch of Tir na n'Og. For in that land was 
a strange custom. The ofSce of king was the prize of a 
race every seven years. Oisin's predecessor had con- 
sulted a Druid as to the length of his own tenure, and 
had been told that he might keep the crown for ever 
unless his son-in-law took it from him. Now the king's 
only daughter was the finest woman in Tir na n'Og, or 
indeed in the world ; and the king naturally thought 
that if he could so deform his daughter that no one 

I would wed her he would be safe. So he struck her with 
a rod of Druidic spells, which turned her head into a 

I, pig's head. This .she was condemned to wear until sjie 
could marry one of Fin Mac Cumhail's sons in Erin, 
The young lady, therefore, went in search of Fin Mac 
Cumhail's sons ; and having chosen Oisin she found an 
opportunity to tell him her tale, with the result that he 
wedded her without delay. The same moment her 
deformity was gone, and her beauty as perfect as before 
she was enchanted. Oisin returned to Tir na n'Og with 
her ; and on the first race for the crown he won so easily 
that no man ever cared to dispute it with him afterwards. 
So he reigned for many a year, until one day the longing 
seized him to go to Erin and see his father and his men. 
His wife told him that if he set foot in Erin he would 
' " Choice Notu," p. ^. I 



never come back to her, and he would become a blind 
old man ; and she asked him how long he thought it . 
was since he came to Tir na n'Og. " About three years," 
he replied. "It is three hundred years," she said. How- 
ever, if he must go she would give him a white steed to 
bear him ; but if he dismounted, or touched the soil of 
Krin with his foot, the steed would return that instant, 
and he would be left a poor old man. This inevitable 
catastrophe occurred in his eagerness to blow the great 
horn of the Fenians, in order to summon his friends 
around him. His subsequent adventures with Saint 
Patrick, interesting though they are, are unimportant for 
our present purpose.' 

Perhaps the nearest analogue to this is the Italian - 
Swan-maiden miircken, of the Island of Happiness. 
There a youth sets out to seek Fortune, and finds her in 
the shape of a maiden bathing, whose clothes he steals, 
obtaining possession thereby of her book of command, 
and so compelling her to wed him. But in his absence 
his mother gives her the book again, which enables her 
to return to her home in the Island of Happiness. Thither 
her husband goes to seek her, and after a variety of 
adventures he is re-united to her. All goes smoothly 
until he desires to visit his mother, supposing that he 
had only been in the island for two months, whereas in 
fact he has been there two hundred years. Fortune, 
finding he was bent on going, was more prudent than 
the queen of Tir na n'Og, for she went with him on the 
magic horse. In their way they met with a lean woman 
who had worn out a carriage-load of shoes in travelling. 
She feigned to fall to the ground to see if Fortune's 
husband would lift her up. But Fortune cried out to 
him: " Beware I that is Death!" A little further on 
they met a devil in the guise of a great lord riding a 

' Curtin, p. 327, See also Kennedy, p. 240, and " F. L. Record," 

vol. ii. p. 15, where the laleMt. H. C. Co<ittt\u.Q(.esftit"tiMS»jSa'3sa 

I of Ihe Osaunic Society." ^^^ 



I 



aao THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

horse whose legs were worn out with much running. 
He also fell from his horse. This was aaother trap for 
Fortune's husband ; but again she cried out to him : 
"Beware !" Then, having reached his own neighbour- 
hood and satisfied himself that no one knew hitn, and 
that none even of tht- oldest remembered his mother, he 
allowed his wife to lead him back to the Island of Happi- 
ness, where he still dwells with her.' 

In an Annamite saga a certain king wished to build a 
town on a site he had fixed upon. All at once a tree 
bearing an unknown foliage and strange flowers sprang 
up on the spot. It was determined to offer these flowers 
to the king ; and sentinels were placed to see that no 
one plucked the blossoms. A rock still pointed out in 
the north of Annam was the home of a race of genii. 
A young and lovely maiden belonging to that race 
visited the tree, and was unlucky enough to touch one 
of the flowers and to cause it to drop. She was at once 
seized by the guards, but was released at the intercession 
of a certain mandarin. The mandarin's heart was 
susceptible : he fell in love with her, and, pursuing her, 
he was admitted into the abodes of the Immortals and 
received by the maiden of his dreams. His happiness 
continued until the day when it was his lady's turn to 
be in attendance on the queen of the Immortals. Ere 
she left him she warned him against opening the back 
door of the palace where they dwelt, otherwise he would 
be compelled to return home, and his present abode 
would be forbidden to him from that moment. He 
disobeyed her. On opening the door he beheld once 
more the outside world, and his family came to his 

' Compnretti, vol. i. p. ai*. An English yeraian is given by Mt. 
Coole, ■' F. L. Record," vol. iL p. 13. Madame D'Aulnoy gives a similar 
slory in her " Histoire d'Hypolite, Comte de Douglas," which seems I 
lo be [he original of a tale in verse quoted liy Mr. Bating-Uoold from j 
Dodshy's " Poetical Collection." See " F. L. Record," vol. ii. p. 8 j J 
Baring-Gould, p. 547. ^J 



r 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. SOI 

remembrance. The Immortals who were within ear- 
shot drove him out, and forbade him to return. He 
thought he had only been there a few days, but he could 
no longer find his relatives. No one knew the name he . 
asked for. At last an old man said: "There existed 
once, under the reign of I do not now remember what 
sovereign, an old mandarin of the name, but you would 
have some difficulty in finding him, for he has been dead 
three or four hundred years." An Esthonian tale repre- 
sents a mermaid, the daughter of the Water-Mother, as 
falling in love with a loutish boy, the j-oungcst son of a 
peasant, and taking him down to dwell with her as her 
liusband in her palace beneath the waves. The form 
in which she appeared to him was a woman's ; but she 
passed her Thursdays in seclusion, which she forbade 
him to break, enjoining him, moreover, never to call her 
Mermaid. After little more than a year, however, he 
grew curioug and jealous, and yielded to the temptation 
of peeping through the curtain of her chamber, where 
he beheld her swimming about, half woman and half 
fish. He had broken the condition of his happiness, a 
might no longer stay with her. Wherefore he was cast 
up again on the shore where he had first met the- 
mermaid. Rising and going into the village he inquired 
for his parents, but found that they had been dead for 
more than thirty years, and that his brothers were dead 
too. He himself was unconsciously changed into an i ' ' 
man. For a few days he wandered about the shore, and 
the charitable gave him bread. He ventured to tell his 
history to one kind friend ; but the same night he dis- 
appeared, and in a few days the waves cast up his body 
on the beach.' 

The foregoing talcs all combine with the characteristics 

' DdB Michels, [1. 38; KreiiLznalfl, ji. 212. Stc also my article a 
" The Foiliidilen Chamlier," " F. L. Joiimal," vol. iii. p. 193, where 
the relations of the Esthonian lale to Iho mylh of the FtwlnAicti 



OF FAIRY TALES. 

of the group under discussion, either ihosc of the Swan- 
maiden group or those of the Forbidden Chamber group. 
\ In the myth of the Swan-maidens, as in some types of the 
myth of the Forbidden Chamber, the human hero weds 
a supernatural bride ; and a story containing such an 
incident seems to have a tendency to unite itself to one 
or other of these two groups. This tendency is not, 
however, always developed. The two ladies in the 
Chinese legend, cited in the last chapter, were neither 
Swan-maidens nor female Bluebeards ; and this is not the 
only tale from the Flowery Land in which these super- 
human beauties appear without promoting the develop- 
ment in question. Nor do I find any hint of it in the 
tradition of Bran Mac Fearbhall, King of Ireland, who 
was one day lulled asleep by a strain of fairy music. On 
aivaking he found the silver branch of a tree by his side ; 
and a strange lady appeared at his court and invited him 
to a land of happiness. He handed her the silver branch ; 
and the next morning with a company of thirty persons 
he sailed out on the ocean. In a few days they landed on 
an island inhabited only by women, of whom the strange 
lady appeared to be the chieftainess. Here Bran Mac 
Fearbhall remained several ages before returning to his 
own palace near Lough Foyle, An Arab tale in the 
Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris shows us a king's son 
who in his wanderings lands on a strange island, where 
he marries the king's daughter and becomes his father-in- 
law's vizier. The country was watered by a river which 
flowed at certain seasons from a great mountain. Eveiy 
year it was the vizier's duty to enter the cavern, having 
first received instructionsfrom the king and a mysterious 
gift. At the end of an hour he reappeared, followed by 
the stream, which continued to flow during the time 
needful for the fertilization of the country. When the 
prince as vizier entered the cavern he found a negro, who 
led him to his mistress, the queen of a people of Amazons. 
la her bands tras the management oi \ii.a \\vm ■, ^'a^%\\a . 



THE SUPERNATURAI. LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 203 

had caused the periodical drought in order to exact a 
tribute of date-stones which she had to pass on to an Ifrit, 
to purchase his forbearance towards her own subjects. 
The prince ingratiates himself with her ; she suppresses 
the periodical droughts and marries him. After two cen- 
turies of wedded life she dies, leaving him ten daughters, 
whom he takes back, together with considerable wealth, 
to the city formerly governed by his father-in-law, and 
now by his great -great- grand son. The latter was a hun- 
dred years old, and venerable by the side of his great- 
great-grandfather, over whose head the years had passed 
in that enchanted realm without effect. He made him- 
self known to his descendant and stayed ten years with 
him ; but whether he succeeded in marrying off any of 
his daughters, of ages so very uncertain, the abstract of 
the story I have before me does not say. At last he 
returned to his native land, and reigned there for a long 
time.' 

In the hero of the Island of Happiness we found just 
now one who, having returned to earth for a season, had 
been taken back again by.Jiis supernatural spouse to a 
:e lasting enjoyment. But he is not alone in his 
good fortune. Thomas of Erceldoune, a personage less 
shadowy than some of those commemorated in this 
chapter, is known to have lived in the thirteenth century. 
~' s reputation for prophetic powers has been wide and 

ting. These powers were said to be, like Oisin's, a gift 
from the Fairy Queen. She met him under the Eildon 
Tree, which stood on the easternmost of the three 
Eildon Hills. Having got him into her power, she took 
him down with her into Fairyland, where he abode, as he 
deemed, for three days, but in reality for three years. 
At the end of that time the lady carries him back to 
Eildon Tree and bids him farewell. He asks her for 
some token whereby he may say that he had been with 

' Deanys, p. 98, " Genl. Mag. Lib." (Eng. Trad. Lote^, ■{. %x\ 
" Revue des Trad. Pop," vol. iii. p. 566. 



204 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

her ; and she bestows on him a prophetic tongue that 
cannot lie, and leaves him with a promise to meet him 
again on Huntley Banks. Here both the old ballads and 
the older romance desert us ; but if we may trust Sir 
Walter Scott^s report of the tradition current in the 
neighbourhood, Thomas was under an obligation to 
return to Fairyland whenever he was summoned. 
" Accordingly, while Thomas was making merry with 
his friends in the tower of Ercildoune, a person came 
running in, and told, with marks of fear and astonish- 
ment, that a hart and hind had left the neighbouring 
forest, and were, composedly and slowly, parading the 
street of the village. The prophet instantly arose, left 
his habitation, and followed the wonderful animals to the 
forest, whence he was never seen to return. According 
to the popular belief, he still * drees his weird ^ in Fairy- 
land, and is one =day expected to revisit earth. In the 
meanwhile his memory is held in the most profound 
respect." ' 

In the romance of Ogier, or Olger, the Dane, one of 
the Paladins of Charlemagne, it is related that six fairies 
presided at his birth and bestowed various gifts upon 
him. Morgan the Fay, the last of the six, promised that 
after a long and glorious career he should never die, but 
dwell with her in her castle of Avalon. Wherefore, after 
he had lived and fought and loved for more than a 
hundred years, Morgan caused him to be shipwrecked. 
All men thought he had perished. In reality Morgan 
had taken this means of bringing him to Avalon, where 
she met him and put a ring on his finger, which restored 
him to youth, and a golden crown of myrtle and laurel 
on his brow — the crown of forgetfulness. His toils, his 
battles, even his loves were forgotten ; and his heart was 
filled with a new devotion, namely, for the fairy queen 
Morgan. With her he dwelt in pleasures ever new for 

' " Thomas of Erceldoune,'* passim ; Child, vol. i. p. 318 ; " Border 
Minstrelsy/' vol. Hi. p. 170- 



THE SUPERNrtTliRAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 205 

two hundred ytars, until there canit a day when France 
and Christendom fell into trouble and danger, and the 
peoples cried out for a deliverer, Morgan heard them, 
and resolved that Olger must go to fight for them. She 
lifted the crown from his brow, and his memory came 
back. She bade him guard well his ring, and gave him a 
torch : if that torch were lighted his life would burn out 
with the last spark. He returned to France, fought the 
Paynim and conquered, freeing France and Christendom. 
The widowed queen of France then intrigued to marry 
him ; but as she was on the point of attaining her pur- 
pose Morgan appeared and caught him away. In Avalon 
he still dreams in her arms ; and some day when France 
n her direst need, Olger will come back on his 
famous charger to smite and to deliver .her-_ _ 

Here we come upon another type, the story and the 
superstition of the expected deliverer, which is widely 
scattered through Europe. In this country the most 
noted example is that of King Arthur, who may fitly give 
his name to the type. King Arthur, according to the 
romances, is, like Olger, in the Island of Avalon, wheie 
indeed the romance of Olger declares that the two heroes 
met. Sir Thomas Malory tells us : " Some men yet say 
in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, 
but had by the will of our Lord Jesu Christ into another 
place ; and men say that hee will come againe, and he 
shall winue the holy crosse. I will not say that it shall 
bee so, but rather I will say that heere in this world hee 
changed his life. But many men say that there is 
written upon his tombe this verse : His jacet Arthurus, 
!c quondam, rexque futurus." This is a belief dear to 
the heart of many an oppressed people. It was told of 
JIarold that he was not slain at Senlac, and that he would . 
yet come back to lead his countrymen against the hated ' 
Normans. Even of Roderick, the Last of the Goths, 
deeply stained as he was with crime, men were loth to 
believe th=tt he vfa,s ieni. In the latter part of the 



I 



7- 



sixteenth century, after Don Sebastian had fallen in 
ill-fated expedition to Morocco, Philip the Second of I 
Spain took advantage of the failure of the male hne 
the death of the cardinal-king, Henry, to add Portugal j 
^^-tehis dominions, already too large. His tyranny roused I 
_.a_populaT ^arty whose faith was that Don Sebastian v 
not really dead : he was reigning in the Island of the I 
Seven Cities, and he would return by and by to drive I 
out the Spaniards and their justly execrated king. Even f 
in the year 1761 a monk was condemned by the Inquisi- 
tion as a Sebastianist, a believer and a disseminator of ] 
false prophecies, — so long did the tradition hnger. In the j 
Spanish peninsula, indeed, the superstition has been by no \ 
means confined to Christians. The Moors who were " 
in the mountains of Valentia looked for the return of 
their hero Alfatimi upon a green horse, from his place of I 
concealment in the Sierra de Aguar, to defend them and | 
to put their Catholic tyrants to the sword.' 

Oppression noumhes-beltefs of this kind. It ivas under I 
"the Roman dominion that the Jewish expectation of a Mes- I 
siah grew to its utmost strength ; and the manifestation 
of the Messiah was to be preceded by the reappearance 
of Elijah, a prophet who was not dead but translated 
to heaven. And strange sometimes are the gods from 
whom salvation is to come. Only a few years ago, if we 
may trust Bishop Melchisedech of Roumania, there was 
a Slavonic sect, the object of whose worship was Napoleon 
the First. He, said his worshippers, had not really died ; ' 
he was only at Irkousk, in Siberia, where, at the head of I 
a powerful, an invincible, army, he was ready once more 
to overrun the world.' 

But, however the belief in a deity, or hero, who is to > 

' Malory, vol. iii. p. 339 ; Broga, vol. ii. p. 33S ; Liebreobt in a note 
lo Gerv. Tilb., p. gj, quoting Aznat, " Expulsion delos Moriscos." 

' " AlhenEeum," No. 2,400, 25 Oct. 1873, giving an account of Bishop 
MelchiEedeih's book, entitled " Lipovenismalui" on Ihe creed nnd ci 
toms of the Ruskolnics, or Russian schismcilics. 



I 

^F ti 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 



return some day, may be strengthened by political causes, 
not dependent upon them. Many races liaving tradi- 
tions of a Culture God — that is, of a superior being who 
has taught them agricuhure and the arts of life, and led 
them to victory over their enemies — add that he has 
gone away from them for awhile, and that he will some__ 
day come back again. Quetzalcoatl and Viracocha, 
the culture gods of Mexico and Peru, are familiar in- 
stances of this. In the later Brahminism of India, Vishnu, 
having already accomplished nine avatars, or incarna- 
tions, for special emergencies in the past, was yet to have 
one more avatar for the final destruction of the wicked 
and the restoration of goodness at the end of the present 
age ; he would then be revealed In the sky seated on a 
white horse and wielding a blazing sword. I need not 
specify others : it will be manifest that the traditions 
of modern Europe we have been considering contain the ... 
same thought. Nor is it unlikely that they have been 
influenced by the Christian doctrine of the Second Advent, 
Many of them have received the polish of literature. 
The stories of Olger and Arthur, for example, have 
descended to us as romances written by cultivated men. 
Don Sebastian was the plaything of a political party, if 
not the symbol of religious heresy, for nearly two cen- 
turies. In all these stories we encounter the belief that 
the god or hero is in heaven, or in some remote land. 
Such a belief is the sign of a civilization comparatively 
advanced. The cruder and more archaic belief is that 
he sleeps within the hiils. 

This cruder behef is more familiar in the folklore of 
Europe than the other. King Arthur was believed to 
lie with his warriors beneath the Craig-y-Ddinas {Castle 
Rock) in the Vale of Neath. lolo Morganwg, a well- 
known Welsh antiquary, used to relate a curious tradi- 
tion concerning this rock. A Welshman, it was said, 
walking over London Bridge with a hazel staff in his 
hand, was met by an Englishman, who told \nm. 'OnaX. x!o.«. 



3o8 THE SCIENCE OF FA!RV TALES, ■ 

Stick he carried grew on a spot under which were hidden 
vast treasures, and if the Welshman remembered the 
piace and would show it to him he would put him in 
possession of those treasures. Afttr some demur the 
Welshman consented, and took the Englishman (who 1 
was in fact a wizard) to the Craig-y-Ddinas and showed I 
him the spot. They dug up the hazel tree on which the 
staff grew and found under it a broad flat stone. This | 
covered the entrance to a cavern in which thousands erf 
warriors lay in a circle sleeping on their arms. In the , 
centre of the entrance hung a bell which the conjurer 
begged the Welshman to beware of touching. But if ' 
at any time he did touch it and any of the warriors should , 
ask if it were day, he was to answer without hesitation : 
" No ; sleep thou on." The warriors' arms were so 
brightly polished that they illumined the whole cavern ; 
and one of them had arms that outshone the rest, and a 
crown of gold lay by his side. This was Arthur ; and 
when the Welshman had taken as much as he could 
carry of the gold which lay in a heap amid the warriorsj 
both men passed out ; not, however, without the Welsh-B 
man's accidentally touching the bell. It rang ; but wheaa 
the inquiry : " Is it day ? " came from one of the warriors,! 
he was prompt *vith the reply r " No ; sleep thou on."fl 
The conjurer afterwards told him that the company hem 
had seen lay asleep ready for the dawn of the day whenf 
the Black Eagle and the Golden Eagle should go to I 
war, the clamour of which would make the earth tremblQ.| 
so much that the bell would ring loudly and the w 
would start up, seize their arms, and destroy the e 
of the Cymry, who should then repossess the island of ■ 
Britain and be governed from Caerlleon with justice and I 
peace so long as the world endured. When the Welsh. ' 
man's treasure was all spent he went back to the cavern 
and helped himself still more liberally than before. On ■ 
his way out he touched the boll again : again it rang. 
But this time he was not so reitdy with his answer, and J 



I 
I 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. SOg 

some of the warriors rose up, took the gold from him, 
beat him and cast him out of the cave. He never re- 
covered the effects of that beating, but remained a cripple 
and a pauper to the end of his days ; and he never could 
find the entrance to the cavern again. Merlin and the 

" Of woven paces and of wavint; hands " 

I need not do more than mention. A recess in the rock 
three miles eastward of Carmarthen, called Merlin's Cave, 
is generally accredited as thcplace where Vivien perpetrated 
her treachery. Merlin's county is possessed of another en- 
chanted hero. On the northern side of Mynydd Mawr 
(the Great Mountain) near Llandtlo, is a cave where 
Owen Lawgoch (Owen of the Red Hand), one of the last 
chieftains who fought against the English, lies with his 
men asleep. And there they will lie until awakened by 
the sound of a trumpet and the clang of arms on Rhyw- 
goch, when they will arise and conquer their Saxon foes, 
driving them from the land. A more famous chieftain 
is the subject of a similar belief in the Vale of Gwent. 
Considerable obscurity overhangs the fate of Owen 
Glendower. What is certain about him is that he 
disappeared from history in the year 141I. What is 
believed in the Vale of Gwent is that he and his men 
still live and lie asleep on their arms in a cave there, 
called " Gogov y Ddinas," or Castle Cave, where they 
will continue until England become self-debased ; but 
that then they will sally forth to reconquer their country, 
privileges, and crown for the Welsh, who shall be dis- 
possessed of them no more until the Day of Judgment.' 

' " Trans. Abetd. Eistedd.," p. 217, quoting Waring's " Recollections 
of lolo Morganwg" ; Black's "Picturesque Guide lo Wales" (1872), 
p. 179; Howells, p. 104 i "I0I0 MSS." (Llandovery, 184S), pp.68, 
454, quoting from papers attributed lo the Rev. Eran Evans, and said 
to be, when copied Ijy lolo Motganivg, in the possession of Paul 
Fanton, Esq., ofAnglesea. 



atO T1I£ SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 

In other Celtic lands the same superstition occurs. 
- There is a hole called the Dc%-il's Den at the foot of a 
mountain in the I^le of Man where it was believed in the 
last century- that a great prince who never knew death 
had been bound by spells for six hundred years ; bat 
none had ever had courage enough to explore the hole. 
In Sutherlandshire it is said that a man once entered a 
cave and there found many huge men all asleep on the 
floor. They rested on their elbows. In the centre of 
the hall was a stone table, and on it lay a bugle. The 
man put the bugle to his lips and blew once. They all 
stirred. He blew a second blast, and one of the giants, 
rubbing his ej'es, said : " Do not do that again, or you 
will wake us ! " The intruder fled in terror, and i 
found the mouth of the cavern again. Earl Gerald of 
Mullaghmast sleeps wilb his warriors in a cavei 
the castle, or Rath, of Mullaghmast. A long table runs 
down the middle of the cave. The Earl sits at the head, 
and his troopers in compleie artnour on either side, their J 
heads resting on the table. Their horses, saddled andj 
bridled, stand behind their masters in stalls on eitherl 
side. The Earl was a leader of the Irish ; he was very:i 
skilful at weapons, and deep in the black art. He could ff 
change himself into any shape he pleased. His lady was I 
always begging him to let her see him in some strange I 
shape ; but he always put her off, for he told her that 
if during his transformation she showed the least fright 
he would not recover his natural form till many genera- 
tions of men were under the mould. Nothing, however, 
would do for the lady but an exhibition of his powers ; 
so one evening he changed himself into a goldfinch. 
While he was playing with her in this form a hawk 
caught sight of him and pursued him. The hawk dashed 
itself against a table and was killed ; but the lady had 
given a loud scream at seeing her husband's danger, and 
neither goldfinch nor Earl did she behold again. Once. 
in seven years the Earl rides round the Curragh of . 



I 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 211 

Ktldare on a horse whose silver shoes were half an inch 
thick, when he disappeared. When they are worn as 
thin as a cat's ear, a miller's son, who is to he horn with 
six fingers on eacli hand, will blow his trumpet, the 
troopers will awake and mount their horses and with the 
Earl go forth to battle against the English ; and he will 
reign King of Ireland for twoscore years. A horse- 
dealer once found the lighted cavern open on the night 
the Earl was riding round the Curragh and went in. 
In his astonishment at what he saw he dropped a bridle 
on the ground. The sound of its fall echoing in the 
recesses of the cave aroused one of the warriors nearest 
to him ; and he lifted up his head and asked : "Is it 
time yet ? " The man had the wit to say : " Not yet, ' 
but soon will ;" and the heavy helmet sank down once 
more upon the table, while the man made the best of 
his way out. On Rathlin Island there is a ruin called 
Bruce's Castle. In a cave__beneath lie Bruce and his 
chief warriors in an enclianled sleep ; but some day they 
will arise and unite the island to Scotland. Only once 
in seven years the entrance to the cave is visible. A man 
discovered it on one of these occasions, and went in. He 
found himself in the presence of these men in armour. 
A sabre was half-sheathed in the earth at his feet. He 
tried to draw it, but every one of tlie sleepers lifted his 
head and put his hand on his sword. The intruder fled ; 
but ere the gate of the cavern clanged behind him he 
heard voices calhng fiercely after him : " Why could we 
not be left to sleep?"' 

The population of the south and west of Yorkshire is 
largely Celtic. A tradition of Arthur seems to have 
been preserved among them to the effect that he and his 
knights sit spell-bound in the ruins of a castle, believed 
by the clergj-man who communicated it to Mr. Alfred 
Nutt to be Richmond Castle. Wherever it was, a man 

■ Waldion, p. 68; " F. L. Journal," vol. vi. p. 164; Kennedy, 
p. 172, Lady Wilde, vol. i. p. i6i. 



THE SCIENCE OF I 



I TAL1£5. 



named Potter Thompson penetrated by chance into the 
hall, and found them sitting around a table whereon lay 
a sword and a horn. The man did not venture, like the 
Sutherlandshire intruder, to blow the horn, but turned 
and fled at once. There, it seems, he made a mistake ; 
for had he done so he would have released Arthur from 
the spell. And as he crossed the threshold again a voice 
sounded in his ears ; — 

"I'ollei Thom[i»)n, Fotlec Thompson, hadst thoa blown ihe horn, 
ThcFU hadsl bceo Ihegreatesl man that ever was bore." 

He had missed his chance, and could not return into the 
enchanted hall. By the twelfth century the legend of ! 
Arthur had reached Sicily, perhaps with the Normans. 
Gervase of Tilbury tells us that a boy was in charge of | 
the Bishop of Catania's palfrey, when it broke loose and 
ran away. He pursued it boldly into the dark recesses of 
Mount Etna, ivhere, on a wide plain full of all delights, 
he found Arthur stretched on a royal couch in a palace 
built with wonderful skill. Having explained what 
brought him thither, the hero caused the horse to be 
given up to him, and added gifts which were afterwards 
beheld with astonishment by many, Arthur informed j 
him, moreover, that he had been compelled to remain 
there on account of his wound, which broke out afresh 
every year.' 

In Teutonic lands the legends of the sleeping host and I 
the sleeping monarch are very numerous. Grimm in his 
Mythology has collected many of them. I select for 
mention a few only, adding one or two not included by 
him. Karl the Great lies in the Unterberg, near Salz- 
burg, and also in the Odenberg, where Woden himself, 
according to other legends, is said to be. Siegfried, the 
hero of the Nibelungen Lied, dwells in the mountain 

' " V. L. JouiTial," vol. i. p. 193 ; Gerv. Tilb., Dec. ii. c. 12, 
llr. Null's rematks on these in his admirable " StuJies on the Legend 
of Ihe Holy Grail " (London, 18S8), pp. 123, 196* 



rTHE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN I-AIRVLAND. 313 ^H 
fastness of Geroldseck. Diedrich rests in the mountains ^^M 
of Alsace, his hand upon his sword, waiting till the Tnrk ^^M 



shall water his horses on the banks of the Rhine. On~ 
the Grutli, where once they met to swear the oath which 
freed their country, lie the three founders of the Swiss 
Federation in a cleft of the rock. The Danes have appro- 
priated Olger, who, Grimm says, really belongs to the 
Ardennes ; and in a vaulted chamber under the castle 
of Kronburg he sits, with a number of warriors clad in 
mail, about a stone table, into which his beard has grown. 
A slave who was condemned to death received pardon 
and freedom on condition of descending to ascertain 
what was beneath the castle ; for at that time no one 
knew, and no one could explain the clashing of armour 
sometimes heard below. He passed through an iron 
doorway and found himself in the presence of Olger and 
his men. Their heads rested on their arms, which were 
crossed upon the table. When Olger lifted up his head 
the table burst asunder. " Reach me thy hand," he said 
to the slave ; but the latter, not venturing to give his 
hand, held out an iron bar instead, which Olger squeezed 
so that the marks remained visible. At length letting 
it go, he exclaimed: "It gladdens me that there are still 
men in Denmark ! " ' 

But of all tile great names appropriated by this myth, 
the one which has thus been made most famous is that 
of Frederick Barbarossa. When he was drowned in 
crossing the river Calycadmus in Asia Minor, the 
peasants of Germany refused to believe in his death, 
and constantly expected him to return. Poems which 
go back to the middle of the fourteenth century, or 
within a century and a half of Frederick's death, prove 
the existence of a tradition to this effect. More than 
this, they contain allusions to some of the details about 
to be mentioned, and foretell his recovery of the Holy 

' Grimm, "Teul. Mylh." pp. 953, 955, 961; Thorpe, vol. ii, p, 
322, Itanslaling Tiiiele ; Cerleux et Canioy, vol. i. p. 65. j 



I 



THE SCIENCE C 



I 

^■1 Sepulchre. The K3fffhauser in Thuringia is the moun- 

^^'tain usually pointed out as his place of retreat, though 

other places also claim the honour. Within the cavern 

he sits at a stone table, and rests his head upon his 

hand. His beard grows round the table : twice already 

has it made the circuit ; when it has grown round the 

I third time the emperor will awake. He will then come 

[ forth, and will hang his shield on a withered tree which 

break into leaf, and a better time will dawn. 

r Gorgeous descriptions are given of the cavern. It is 

":ant with gold and jewels ; and though it is a 

I cavern deep in the earth, it shines within like the 

f sunniest day. The most splendid trees and shrubs stand 

I there, and through the midst of this Paradise flows a 

I brook whose very mud is pure gold. Here the 

I emperor's rest is not so profound as might have been 

I expected. A strain of music easily seems to rouse him. 

I A shepherd having once piped to him, Frederick asked : 

r " Fly the ravens round the mountain still ? " " Yes," 

I replied the shepherd. " Then must I sleep another 

1 hundred years," murmured the emperor. The shepherd 

1 was taken into the armoury, and rewarded with the stand 

L hand-basin, which turned out to be of pure gold. 

! A party of musicians on their way home from a wedding 

I passed that way, and played a tune " for the old Emperor 

[ Frederick." Thereupon a maiden stepped out, and 

lught them the emperor's thanks, presenting each of 

r them with a horse's head by way of remembrance. All 

but one threw the gift away in contempt. One, however, 

kept his "to have a joke with his old woman," as he 

phrased it, and taking it home he put it under the pillow. 

In the morning, when his wife turned up the pillow to 

look at it, instead of a horse's head she brought forth a 

lump of gold. Other stories are told of persons who 

have penetrated into the emperor's presence and been 

enriched. A shepherd found the mountain open on 

St. John's Day, and entered. He was allowed to take 



r 

I 



THE SUPERNATtlRAl. LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 215 

some of the horse-mt-al, which when he rtacheJ home 
he found to be gold. Women have been given knots of 
flax, of the same metal. A swineherd, however, who 
went in, was less lucky. The emperor's lady- housekeeper 
made signs to him that he might take some of the 
treasure ou the table before him ; accordingly he stuffed 
his pockets full. As he turned to go out she called after 
him : " Forget not the best ! " She meant a flower 
which lay on the table ; but he heeded not, and the 
mountain, slamming behind him, cut off his heel, so that 
he died in great pain.' 

Such are a few of the legends relating to the Kyff- 
haflser ; but it should be observed that Frederick Bar- 
barossa's is not the only name given to the slumbering > 
hero. We have already seen in the last chapter that one 
tradition calls him the Marquis John. Another dubs 
him the Emperor Otto ; and yet in another Dame HoUe 
is identified with his houi^skeeper. Now this difference 
in the traditions about names, while they agree in the 
substance of the superstition, indicates that the substance 
is older and more important than the names, and that 
well-known nai^es-have- become affixed to the traditions 
as they happened from time to lime to strike the popular 
imagination. This is confirmed by the fact that in many 
places where similar traditions are located, no personal 
name at all is given to the hero. In the Guckenberg, 
near Frankischgemunden, an emperor disappeared a long 
time ago with his army. A boy selling rolls once met an 
old man, to whom he complained of bad trade. The old 
man said he could show him a place where he could 
bring his rolls every d'ay ; but he must tell no one 
thereof. So saying, he led the boy into the mountain, 
where there were many people. The emperor himself 
sat at a table, round which his beard had grown twice : 

• Grimm, "Teut. Mylli.,' 
Hee also Thorpe, vol. iii. ]i. 
Grimm. 



2l6 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

when it has grown round it once more he will come forth 
again with all his men. The boy's rolls were bought ; 
and he daily repeated his visit. After a while, however, 
he could not pass the ancient coin wherein he was paid. 
The people in the village, grown suspicious, made him 
confess all ; and he could never find his way to the 
mountain again. In the " Auersperg Chronicle," under 
the year 1223, it is recorded that from a certain mountain 
which Grimm identifies with the Donnersberg (Thor's 
mountain), near Worms, a multitude of armed horsemen 
used daily to issue, and thither daily to return. A man, 
who armed himself with the sign of the cross, and 
questioned one of the host in the name of Our Lord, was 
told by him : " We are not, as you think, phantoms, nor, 
as we seem, a band of soldiers, but the souls of slain 
soldiers. The arms and clothing, and horses, because 
they once were the instruments of sin, are now to us the 
/ materials of our punishment ; for what you behold upon 
us is really on fire, although you cannot perceive it with 
your bodily eyes." We saw in an earlier chapter that a 
story influenced by the Welsh Methodist revival repre- 
sented the midwife whose sight was cleared by fairy 
. ointment as beholding herself surrounded by flames, and 
^ the fairies about her in the guise of devils. In the same 
way here the wonders recorded by a pious ecclesiastic 
have taken, though possibly not in the first instance 
from him, a strictly orthodox form, and one calculated 
to point a pulpit moral. ^ 

Over against the last two legends we may place two from 
Upper Alsace. A body of the Emperor Karl the Great's 
warriors had become so puffed up by their successes that 
at last they pointed their guns and cannon against 
heaven itself. Scarcely had they discharged their pieces 
when the whole host sank into the earth. Every seventh 
year they may be seen by night on their horses, exer- 

' Kuhn und Schwartz, pp. 220, 222 ; Grimm, " Teut. Myth." 
PP' 953> 954' 



THE SUPERNATURAL tAPSE OF TIME IK FAlRYt^Kt). 317 

cising. Concerning ihem it. is said that a baker's 
daughter of Kuffach, in the Ochsenfcld valley, wa^ 
carrying white bread to the next village, when she met 
a soldier on a white horse who offered to lead her to a 
place where she could sell the bread immediately for a 
good price. She accordingly followed him through a 
subterranean passage into a great camp quite full of 
long-bearded soldiers, who were all fast asleep. Here she 
sold all her bread, and was well paid ; and for several 
years she continued daily to sell her bread there, so that 
her father became a rich man. One day she was ill 
and unable to go, whereupon she sent her brother, de- 
scribing the place to him. He found it, but a door 
blocked up the passage, and he could not open it. 
The girl died soon after, and since then no one has 
entered the subterranean camp. From Butow in 
Pomerania comes a saga similar to that of Olger at 
Kronburg. A mountain in the neighbourhood is held 
to be an enchanted castle, communicating by an under- 
ground passage with the castle of Biitow. A criminal 
was once offered his choice whether to die by the hang- 
man, or to make his way by the passage in question to 
the enchanted castle, and bring back a written proof 
from the lord who sat enchanted within it. He succeeded 
in his mission ; and the document he brought back is 
believed to be laid up among the archives of the town. 
According to another account a man once met two 
women who led him into the mountain, where he found 
a populous city. They brought him safely back after 
he had spent six hours within the mountain. A saga 
referred to by Grimm relates how a shepherd found in 
the cavern of the Willberg a little man sitting at a stone 
table through which his beard had grown ; and in 
another three unnamed malefactors are spoken of 
In Sweden there is a story that may remind us of the 
Sutherland shire legend. In a large cleft of the mountain 
of BilUngen, in West Gothland, called the Giant's Path, 



1 
1 



I 



3 TKE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

is said there was formerly a way leading far into the | 

mountain, into which a peasant once penetrated, and ] 
found a man lying asleep on a large stone. No one J 
knows how he came there ; but every time the bell tolls J 
for prayers in Ygjunda church, he turns round and sighs. | 
So he will continue until Doomsday.' In none of these ( 
^ories is the hero identified with any known historical j 
person. 

Among the Slavonic peoples corresponding sagas are 
told. In Servia and Bulgaria King Marko is the en- 
chanted hero. He is variously held to be in a palace on 
some mysterious island, or in a mountain not far from 
the Iron Gates. The traveller who crosses the mountain ' 
calls to him ; " Marko, dost thou live ? " and in the echo { 
he believes that Marko gives him a reply. "Prince" 
Marko is also bcheved by the Serbs to be in the moun- , 
tain Urvina with his horse Sharatz, asleep. His sword 
is rising slowly out of the mountain. When it is fully 
disclosed, Marko will awake and deliver his people. 
If other accounts may be trusted, however, he has retired 
to the Alps since the invention of gunpowder, and now 
lives as a hermit in a cave. So great pity was it 



The Carpathian hero is Dobocz, the robber chief. He , 
is bespelled by a jealous mistress in a cavern on the 
Czornahora, where he perpetually counts the gold he has 

' Meier, pp. iij, 133 ; Jahn, p. 248 ; Grimm, "Teul, Myth." p. 961 ; 
Thorpe, vol. li. p. 91, from Afzelius. In an Austrian manhm Ifae 
Sleeping Host u; a hosL or serpents. The king slept on a crystal table 
in the centre. During the winter serpents ate believed to sleep. In 
the spring the oldest serpent awakes and wakens the others, crying : 
" It is time" (Veraaleken, p. 113). 

■ Grohmann, p. 10. Marko was ashepherd, who for a service r 
dered to a Vila was gifted by her with heroism, Iwauly, and other 
goodFortaae (Krauss, "Volksel-" P- '°3V 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 2I9 

hidden. Od certain days of the year he comes out with 
his followers ; and then he has often been seen by the 
mountaineers. Sometimes he visits his wife in her rock- 
dwelHng by Polanslco, where she too is enchanted ; and 
on such occasions the nightly festivities may be seen and 
heard. Bold are they who endeavour to penetrate the 
depths of the mountain where Dobocz dwells. They 
never return, but are caught by the robber and added to 
his baud. Strengthened with these reinforcements hia 
companions will be with him when the charm shall one 
day be broken, and he will issue forth to take vengeance 
on the men ivho betrayed him. Some of the stories of 
Blanik Mountain, where Wenzel, the king of Bohemia, 
lies, have been set before the reader. The horses of him- 
self and his followers stand ever ready saddled ; and at 
midnight the mountain opens, and the king and his 
knights ride forth to exercise upon the plain. But other 
heroes than Wenzel dispute with him the honour of 
being the enchanted inhabitant of the Blanik. One 
clear moonlight night of spring the burgesses of Jung- 
Wositz were aroused from their slumbers by the beating 
of drums, and the clang of armour, and the trampling of 
horses. Terrified at such a rout, and not knowing what 
it might mean, they seized their weapons and stood on 
the defensive. Nor were they a little surprised to see 
on the open meadows a troop of horsemen engaged in 
knightly play. By and by, at the sound of the kettle- 
drum, the troop formed into rank, and vanished into the 
mountain, which closed behind them with a crash. The 
I burgesses offered a reward to whomsoever would explore 
I the recesses of the mountain, and bring them sure 
[ tidings of the ghostly horsemen. Three years passed by 
: the task was attempted. At last a clever man, 
[ Zdenko von Zasmuk, undertook the adventure. He was 
y enough to find the mountain open; and riding in, 
e came into a vast lighted hall where slept on stoae, 
jenches the knights of the moumain, tvo\( tWn%'a4.'«A.':> 



aao THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALE3. ■ 

fine oid men with long white beards. Their snow-white 1 
horses, ready saddled, stood fastened to the piers of th« J 
vault. Zdenko accidentally knocked down a spear ; and* 
the clangour, echoing round the hall, awakened tha^fl 
men. He explained to them why he had come, andfl 
politely offered, if they wished, to attempt their deliver^B 
ance. Their leader informed him in'reply that he wasi 
Ulrich von Rosenberg, that he with his companions hadi 
fallen gloriously against Chichka, in defence of the city <^M 
Litic,andthat God, instead of admitting theniintoParadis^B 
had assigned them an abode in that place until RnhemJaJ 
should be at its sorest need ; then they would sally forth^il 
and bring back peace and happiness to the land. An^-fl 
he enjoined Zdenko to make this known to the people.B 
So saying, he sank again to sleep. It is said, moreover,,B 
that when the time of which Ulrich spoke shall come, a 1 
certain hazel-tree shall begin to blossom, though it will ] 
be winter. A quite different story alleges that it is the 1 
Knight Stoymir, who is under the spell at Blanik. His I 
last struggle against the plundering hordes which over- J 
ran the country took place there ; and he with all his ] 
band perished. The next morning when the enemy had I 
departed his friends searched the battlefield, but not a ] 
trace could be recovered of their bodies. It was first 1 
thought that the foes had carried them olF to be ran- J 
somed. At night, however, the inhabitants of th^l 
neighbourhood were roused from slumber by the nois^l 
of a host ; and they beheld the slain heroes exercis)n|fl 
and afterwards watering their horses at the beck beforel 
they returned to the mountain. The herdsman whafl 
told the foregoing tale declared that he had been into thaM 
mountain, and had himself seen Stoymir and his com-l 
panions in their sleep. There can be no doubt, therefore, .1 
of its truth.' I 

Legends of buried armies occur also at Trzebnica, ixtM 
Silesia, where the Poles encountered the Turks, and atj 
' Giohmann, -pp, tl, Ij, 15. J 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRVLAND. 221 

Mativa in the Prussian province of Posen. In the former 
a girl who is adrnitted into the cavern is warned against 
touching a bell that, as in the Welsh tale, hangs in the 
entrance. She cannot resist the temptation to transgress 
this command, and is ignominiously ejected. In the 
latter, an old man buys corn for the troops. Again, in 
the Carpathians, as in one of the sagas concerning the 
Blanik, a smith is summoned to shoe the steeds. The 
Rev. W. S. Lach-Szyrraa, in addition to these stories, 
gave the Folklore Society some years ago, from a chap- 
book of Posen, the following abstract of a legend I have 
not met with elsewhere : " Once upon a lime, in Mazo- 
wia, there were seven victorious leaders. After having 
won a hundred battles, finding their beards had grown 
white, they ordered their soldiers to build in their honour 
a very high tower. The soldiers built and built, but 
every day part of the tower tumbled down. This lasted 
a whole year. The leaders, after supper, assembled at 
the ruins of the tower. Here, at the sound of lutes and 
songs, immediately a tower grew up from the earth to 
heaven, and on its seven pinnacles shone the seven 
helmets of the seven leaders. Higher and higher they 
rose, but brighter and brighter they shone till they 
appeared as the seven stars in heaven. The soldiers 
sank down into graves which had been dug round the 
tower and fell asleep. The tower has melted out of view, 
but on fine nights we still see the seven helmets of the 
leaders, and the soldiers are sleeping till they are 
wanted." ' 



/these 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND 

{conU'mied). 

The story not an early one — Its weirdest developments European — 
Stories of short time appearing long — Mohammed's night-journey 
and its variants — The Sleeping Hero, a heathen god — The Wild 
Hunt — The Enchanted Princess, a heathen goddess. 

The visits to Fairyland recorded in Chapter VII differ 
only in one respect from those mentioned in earlier 
chapters of this book. Like them, they are visits of 
business or of pleasure. Mortals are summoned to per- 
form some service for the mysterious beings whose 
dwelling is beneath the earth, such as to stand sponsor 
to their children, or to shoe their horses j or they go to 
take a message from this world, or to bring a message 
back. Or else they are drawn into the regions over 
which the power of the supernatural extends, by 
curiosity, by the desire of pleasure, or else by the 
invitation, or unconsciously by the spell, of their super- 
human inhabitants. The point at which the visits differ 
from those we have previously considered, and from a 
hundred others precisely parallel in all other respects, is 
in their length. To the entrammelled mortal the visit 
seems to last but a moment ; for while under the fairy 
sway he is unconscious of the flight of time. In other 
stories deception is practised on the sight. The midwife, 
without the ointment, is deceived like Thor by Utgard- 
Loki : nothing is as it appears to her. Parents and 
husbands are deceived by changelings : they are mad^ 



r 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIMF. IN FAIRVLAND. Z23 

to believe that images of dead wood are living creatures, 
or human corpses. In these stories, on the other hand, 
the magic is directed against the sense of time. A, 
subtler, a weirder, a more awful horror is thus added to 
the dread of commtinion with the supernatural. 

This horror is one arising comparatively late in the 
history of culture. The idea of time must first grow up 
and be elaborated. Time is dependent on number. A 
savage who can barely count beyond five cannot know 
anything of stories which deal with the lapse of centuries. 
Even the vaguer, but shorter, period of a generation will 
be an idea he cannot grasp. We have therefore found 
no such tales in the lower savagery ; and even among 
tlie Lapplanders and the Siberian tribes the stories we 
have been able to collect speak only of short periods, 
such as the transition from autumn to spring, where a 
man had slept through the winter, and the expansion of 
a day into a month, or a year. In these two cases not 
only the phases of the moon and the measurement of 
time by them, which must have been early in develop- 
ment, but also the cycle of the seasons had been 
observed. But the idea lying at the root of this group 
of tales is as yet only in germ. The full terror of the 
situation, as exhibited in the traditions of the more 
highly organized societies of Europe and of the extreme 
Orient, is unforeseen. For it is in proportion to the 
organization of society that such a catastrophe as the loss 
of years, and thereby of kindred and friends, becomes 
really dreadful. Indeed, it would seem to have been 
reserved for the European nations to put the final 
touches of gloom and horror upon the canvas. It may 
be sufficient to refer this to the more sombre imagination 
of Western peoples. But we ought not to overlook the 
influence of the Catholic Church in darkening the 
general tone of the imagination, and particularly the 
tone of the fairy sagas, by the absolute and unquestioned 
supremacy she demanded, and the frightful ^em.a.\.\.\ss,, 



\ 



224 THE SCIENCE OF [■■AIRV TALES. ^H 

temporal and spiritual, she invoked upon those who 
dared to indulge in cuhs she was unable to incorporate. 
To men under such an influence, intercourse with fairies 
would be a thing unholy ; and the greater the tempta- 
tions to it, the severer, they would deem, should be the 
penalties. This is the frame of mind which would, if 
with shuddering, yet without a murmur, acquiesce in the 
justice of the doom suffered by Herla, to put an extreme 
case — -a frame of mind undoubtedly countenanced by the 
equally uncompromising claims of various forms of 
Protestantism. But, while reprobating commerce with 
unhallowed spirits, intercourse with spirits sanctioned by 
the Church was believed to be almost equally possible, 
and was encouraged as much as the other was denounced. 
If such intercourse sometimes resuUedin severance between 
the favoured mortal and his human friends, this was only 
an extension of the monastic idea ; and, as in that case, 
the loss was held to be abundantly compensated by the 
favour of Heaven and the bliss received. At all events it 
is certain, from whatever cause, that the deepest depths 
and the loftiest heights of which this story-plot has been 
found capable, have been reached only under Christian 
influences. Pliny and Mohammed, the Taoist and the 
Shtntoist, have recorded no tale that sways our emotions 
like those of Herla, the Aged Bride, and the Monk 
Felix. 

But the magical power over time operates now and 
then in the contrary way, by making a short time appear 
long. A few examples may be interesting, though they 
will in no way affect the foregoing conclusions. In the 
tenth part of a night Mohammed, it wdl be remembered, 
was taken up to Paradise on the back of the beast 
Alborac, and passed through all the seven heavens into 
the presence of Allah himself, with whom he had a 
conversation, which could not have been a very short 
one, and was then brought back by the way he had 
gone. He remained long enough in each heaven to give 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 225 

a full, true and particular account of it and of its in- 
habitants, and performed various other feats during the 
journey. Nor will it be forgotten how one of the 
Sultans one day expressing doubts on the possibiUty of 
so much having happened to the Apostle in so short a 
time, a learned doctor of the Mohammedan Jaw caused 
a basin of water to be brought and requested him to dip 
his head into it. When the Sultan dipped his head he 
found himself in a strange country, alone and friendless, 
on the sea-shore. He made his way to a neighbouring 
town, obtained employment, became rich, married, lived 
seven years with his wife, who afterwards, to his great 
grief, died, and then he lost all. One day he was 
wandering in despondency along the sea-shore, where he 
had first found himself; and in his despair he determined 
to cast himself into the sea. Scarcely had he done so 
when he beheld his courtiers standing around his throne t 
yas once more Sultan, and the basin of water into 
which he had dipped his head was before him. He 
began furiously to reproach the learned doctor for 
banishing him from his capital and sending him into 
the midst of vicissitudes and adventures for so many 
years. Nor was it without difficulty that he was brought 
to beheve that he had only just dipped his head into the 
water and lifted it out again. 

This type of story is less frequent than the other, but 
is known in countries far apart, A stripling, in 
Pembrokeshire, joined a fairy dance, and found himself 
in a palace glittering with gold and pearls, where he 
remained in great enjoyment with the fairy folk for 
many years. One restriction was laid upon him ; he was 
not to diink from a certain well in the midst of the 
palace gardens. But he could not forbear. In that well 
swam golden fishes and fishes of all colours. One day 
the youth, impelled by curiosity, plunged his hand into 
the water ; but in a moment fishes and all disappeared, 
shriek ran through the garden, and he found himself 



OF FAIRV TALES. 

I again on the hillside ivith his father's flocks around him. 
I In fact, he had never left the sheep, and what seemed to 

I . him to be years had been only minutes, during which the 
I / fairy spell had been over him. In Count Lucanor, a 
I . Spanish work of the fourteenth century, is a story of a 
I Dean of Santiago, who went to Don Ulan, a magician 
I of Toledo, to be instructed in necromancy. Don lllan 
I made a difficulty, stating that the dean was 
I influence and consequently likely to attain a high 
I position, and that men when they rise forget easily all 
I past obligations, as well as the persons from whom they 
I received them. The dean, however, protested that, no 
' matter to what eminence he attained, he would never 
' fail to remember and to help his former friends, and the 
I magician in particular. This being the bargain, Don 
I Ulan led the dean into a remote apartment, first des 

his housekeeper to procure some partridges for supper, 

but not to cook theni until she had his special commands. 

Scarcely had the dean and his friend reached the room 

when two messengers arrived from the dean's uncle, the 

archbishop, summoning him to his death-bed. Being 

unwilling, however, to forego the lessons he was about 

to receive, he contented himself with a respectful reply. 

Four days afterwards other messengers arrived with 

letters informing the dean of the archbishop's death, 

and again at the end of other seven or eight days he 

learned that he himself had been appointed archbishop 

in his uncle's place. Don Illan solicited the vacant 

L deanery for his son ; but the new archbishop preferred 

I his own brother, inviting, however, Don Illan and his 

I son to accompany him to his see. After awhile, the 

I deanery was again vacant : and again the archbishop 

I refused Don lUan's suit, in favour of one of his own 

I uncles. Two years later, the archbishop was named 

I cardinal and summoned to Rome, with Hberty to name 

I his successor in the see. Don Illan, pressing his suit I 

L more urgently, was again ic^uV^^ in {a.\ouT of another J 



r 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. ZZ7 

uncle. At length the pope died, and the new cardinal 
was chosen pope. Don Ulan, who had accompanied him 
to Rome, then reminded him that he had now no excuse 
for not fulfilling the promises he had so often repeated to 
him. The pope sought to put him off; but Don Illan 
complained in earnest of the many prmiiises he had 
made, none of which had been kept, and declared that 
he had no longer any faith in his words. The pope, much 
angered, threatened to have Don Illan thrown into 
prison as a heretic and a sorcerer ; for he knew that in 
Toledo he had no other means of support but by 
practising the art of necromancy. Don Illan, seeing 
how ill the pope had requited his services, prepared to 
depart ; and the pope, as If he had not already shown 
sufficient ingratitude, refused even to grant him where- 
with to support himself on the road. "Then," retorted 
Don Illan, "since I have nothing to eat, I must needs , 
fall back on the partridges I ordered for to-night's 
supper." He then called out to his housekeeper and 
ordered her to cook the birds. No sooner had he thus 
spoken than the dean found himself again in Toledo, 
still dean of Santiago, as on his arrival, for, in fact, he 
had not stirred from the place. This was simply the way 
the magician had chosen to test his character, before 
committing himself to his hands ; and the dean was so 
crestfallen he had nothing to reply to the reproaches 
wherewith Don Illan dismissed him without even a taste 
of the partridges.' 

A modern folk-tale from Cashmere tells of a Brahmin 
who prayed to know something of the state of the 
departed. One morning, while bathing in the river, his 
spirit left him and entered the body of the infant child 
of a cobbler. The child grew up, learned his father's 
business, married, and had a large family, when suddenly 
he was made aware of his high caste, and, abandoning all, 
he went to another country. There the king b.a.d 'jii.'*. 
' HowcU^ p. I20 ; " Count 'LttcanQ'i" v IT- 



2 28 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

died ; and the stranger was chosen in his place, and put 
upon his throne. In the course of a few years his wife 
came to know where he was, and sought to join him. In 
this or some other way his people learned that he was 
a cobbler ; and great consternation prevailed on account 
of his low caste. Some of his subjects fled ; others 
performed great penances ; and some indeed burnt 
themselves lest they should be excommunicated. When 
the king heard all this, he too burnt himself ; and his 
spirit went and re-occupied the Brahmin's corpse, which 
still lay by the riverside. Thereupon the Brahmin got 
up and went home to his wife, who only said : "How 
quickly you have performed your ablutions this 
morning ! " The Brahmin said not a word of his 
adventures, notwithstanding he was greatly astonished. 
To crown all, however, about a week afterwards a man 
came to him begging, and said he had eaten nothing for 
five days, during which he had been running away from 
his country because a cobbler had been made king. All 
the people, he said, were running away, or burning 
themselves, to escape the consequences of such an evil. 
The Brahmin, while he gave the man food, thought : 
" How can these things be ? I have been a cobbler for 
several years ; I have reigned as a king for several years ; — 
and this man confirms the truth of my thoughts. Yet 
my wife declares I have not been absent from this house 
more than the usual time ; and I believe her, for she 
does not look any older, neither is the place changed in 
any way." Thus were the gods teaching him that the 
soul passes through various stages of existence according 
to a man's thoughts, words, and acts, and in the great 
Hereafter a day is equal to a thousand years, and a 
thousand years are equal to a day.^ 

We may now turn to the types in which the spell is 
believed to be still powerful over heroes once mighty but 
now hidden within the hills, or in some far-off land, 

* Knowles, p. 17. 



S SUi'ERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRVI.AND. 



lag 



awaiting in magical sleep, or in more than human delight, 
the summons that shall bid them return to succour their 
distressed people in the hour of utmost need. As to the 
personality of these heroes there can be no doubt. 
Grimm long ago pointed out that the red-bearded king 
beneath the KyfFhauser can be no other than Thor, the 
old Teutonic god of thunder, and that the long beard — 
sometimes described as white — ^attributed to other leaders 
was a token of Woden. The very name of Woden is 
preserved in the Odenberg, to which several of such , 
legends attach ; and the hidden king there is sometimes 
called Karl the Great, and sometimes Woden. In other 
countries Quetzalcoatl and Vishnu, we know, are gods of 
the native cults. Oisin, Merlin, and King Arthur all 
belong to ths old Celtic Pantheon. And if some 
other sleeping or vanished heroes bear the names 
of personages who once had a real existence, they are 
but . decked in borrowed plumes. In short, all these \ 
Hidden Heroes are gods of the earlier faiths, vanquished J 
by Christianity but not destroyed. 

If this be so, it may be inferred that these gods were at 
one time conceived as presently active, and that it is only 
since the introduction of the new faith that they have 
been thought to be retired beneath the overhanging hills 
or in tlie Islands of the Blest. But this was not so. In 
all regions the chief activity of the deities has always 
been placed in the past. Upon the stories told of the 
deeds of yesterday the belief of today is founded. 
Whether it be creation, or strife against evil spirits, or 
the punishment of men, or the invention of the civihzing 
arts, or the endless amours of too susceptible divinities, 
all is looked upon as past and done. The present is 
a state of rest, of suspension of labour, or at least of 
cessation of open and visible actii'ity. These gods, like 
men, require an abode. In the later stages of culture 
this abode is a Paradise on some more or less imaginary 
mountain-top, or effectually cut o5 ItQttv "KVix^ Vj "Oosi 



1 



230 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

magical tempests of the immeasurable main, or by the 
supreme and silent heights of heaven. But this exalta- 
tion of ideas took long to reach. At first a strange rock, 
a fountain, the recesses of a cavern, or the mysterious 
depths of the forest, enshrouded the divinity. In the 
earlier stages of savagery it would be almost truer to say 
that these were very often the divinity : at least they were 
often his outward and visible form. Mr. Im Thurn, 
who has had exceptional opportunities of observing the 
characteristics of the savage mind, and has made excep- 
tionally good use of those opportunities, in describing 
the animism of the Indians of Guiana, says : " Every 
object in the whole world is a being consisting of body 
and spirit, and differs from every other object in no 
respect except that of bodily form, and in the greater or 
less degree of brute power and brute cunning consequent 
on the difference of bodily form and bodily habits." 
Then, after discussing the lower animals and plants as 
each possessed of body and soul, and particularizing 
several rocks which are supposed by the Indians to 
possess spirits like human beings, he goes on : " It is 
unnecessary to multiply instances, further than by saying 
that almost every rock seen for the first time, and any 
rock which is in any way abnormal whenever seen, is 
believed to consist of body and spirit. And not only 
many rocks, but also many waterfalls, streams, and 
indeed material bodies of every sort, are supposed to 
consist each of a body and a spirit as does man ; and 
that not all inanimate objects have this dual nature 
avowedly attributed to them is probably only due to 
the chance that, while all such objects may at any time, 
in any of the ways above indicated, show signs of the 
presence of a spirit within them, this spirit has not yet 
been noticed in some cases." ^ Fron\ this belief to that 

' Im Thurn, pp. 352, 354. Cf. Brett, p. 375. So Leland, p. 3 : 
*' The Indian viHioulin^ or magician, distinctly taught that every 
created thing, animate or inanimate, had its indwelling spirit. What- 
e had an tWea had a soul." 



in which the rocks and hills and other inanimate objects 
are looked upon as having the relation to spirits, not of 
body and soul, but of dwelling and dweller, is a step 
upward, and perhaps a long one. But it is a natural , 
development, and one which would inevitably take place 
as the popular opinion of the power of certain spirits 
grew, and these spirits attracted to themselves super- 
stitions and sagas current among the people whose 
civilization was by the same slow movement growing too. 
The development spoken of would perhaps be assisted 
by the erection of monuments like piles of stones, or 
earthen barrows, over the dead. As formerly in their ' 
huts, so now in their graves, the dead would be regarded _ 
as the occupiers. Their spirits were still living, and 
would be seen from time to time haunting the spot. 
Food would be buried with them ; and sacrifices at the 
moment of burial and on subsequent occasions would be 
offered to them. In process of time among illiterate 
races their identity would be forgotten, and then if the 
barrows were not large enough to attract attention the 
superstitions which had their seat there might cease. 
But if the barrows could not be overlooked, the spirits 
supposed to haunt them might merge into some other 
objects of reverence. In Denmark the barrows are 
invariably regarded as the haunt of fairies ; and this is 
frequently the case in other countries.' When men once .. 

' Cf, Grimin, "Teut. Mylh." p. 962, quoting Harry, "Nieders. 
Sagen " ; Jahn, p. 22S, quoling Tetnmc. Many of the sanctuaries of the 
Celts were upon mounds, which were either harrows of ihe dead, or 
were expressly made for temples ; and the god was called in Irish Cam 
Cruaiih, in Welsh Pain Cmc (now Pen CrOg-), holh meaning the 
Head or Chief of the Mound (Rhys, " Hibbert Lectures," p. 201). 
Many mounds in England, now crowned by churches, have been con- 
jeclured to be old Celtic temples. See an able papier by Mr. T. W. 
Shore on " Characteristic Survivals of the Celts in Hampshire," 
Jonrit. Anihrop. Inst., vol. KK.p. 9. Mont St. Michel, near Camac, in 
Brittany, is a chambered harrow surmounted by a little chapel. From 
the relics found in the tomb, as well as the size of the barrow itsRM, 



232 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 



became habituated to think of a barrow as not 
lutward and visible form of some spirit, but simply ii 
dwelling-place — still more, perhaps, if many interments 
took place within it, so that it became the dwelling-place 
! of many spirits — ihey woidd be led by an easy transition 
to think of rocks, fountains, hills, and other natural 
objects in the same way. The spirits once supposed to 
hi their inner identity would become perfectly separable 
in thought from them, because merely their tenants. 
Thus the gulf would be bridged between the savage 
philosophy of spirits described by Mr. Im Thurn, and the 
polytheism of the higher heathendom, represented by 
Mexico, Scandinavia, and Greece. 

But whether they travelled by this, or any different 
road, certain it is that in the remoter times of the higher 
heathendom men had arrived no further than the belief 
that certain spots, and preferably certain striking objects, 
were the abodes of their gods. This was a doctrine 
developed directly from that which regarded the more 
remarkable objects of nature as the bodies of powerful 
spirits. Nor was it ever entirely abandoned ; for even after 
the more advanced and thoughtful of the community had 
reached the idea of an Olympus, or an Asgard, far 
removed above the every-day earth of humanity, the gods 
still had their temples, and sacred legends still attached 
to places where events of the divine history had happened. 
Consequently some locahties kept their reputation of 
sanctity. That they were really the abiding-places of the 
gods the common people would not cease to hold, what- 
ever might be taught or held by those who had renounced 
that crudity. And, indeed, it may be doubted whether 
anybody ever renounced it altogether. Probably, at all 

some person, or petaons, o( importance must have been buried there. 
The mound may weli have been a haunted, a sacred spot ever since the 
ashes of the dead and Iheir costly weapons and ornaments were com- 
mitted to lis keeping far bu^k in the Neolithic age. Instances might 
easily be multiplied. 



the ^H 

its ^H 

nents ^^^ 



IHE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIKYI.A 



233 



events, most persons would see no difficulty in believing 
that the god dwelt on the sacred spot of earth and also 
at the same time in heaven. They would accept both 
traditions as equally true, without troubling themselves 
how to reconcile them. 

But the gods did not always remain in their dwellings^ 
The Wild Hunt, a tradition of a furious host riding 
abroad with a terrific noise of shouts and horns and the 
braying of hounds, common to Germany and England^ 
has been identified beyond doubt by Grimm with Woden 
and his host. We cannot here discuss the subject except 
ill its relations with the group of stories now under con- 
sideration. Woden, it will be borne in mind, is one of 
the figures of the old mythology merged in the Hidden \ 
Hero beneath the German hills. Now, nothing is more 
natural than that, when a company of warriors is con- 
ceived as lying ready for a summons, themselves all 
armed and their steeds standing harnessed at their sides, 
they should be thought now and then to sally forth, 
This was the sound which surprised the good burgesses 
of Jung-Wositz when Ulrich von Rosenberg and his 
train rode out by night upon the plain. In this way 
King Wenzel exercises his followers, and the unfortunate 
Stoymir vindicated his existence beneath the Blanik not- 
withstanding his death. In this way too, before a war, 
Diedrich is heard preparing for battle at one o'clock in 
the morning on the mountain of Ax. Once in seven 
years Earl Gerald rides round the Curragh of Kildare ; 
and every seventh year the host at Ochsenfeld in Upper 
Alsace may be seen by night exercising on their horses. 
On certain days the Carpathian robber issues from his 
cavern in the Czornahora. Grimm mentions the 
story of a blacksmith who found a gap he had never 
noticed before in the face of a cliff on the Odenberg, 
and entering, stood in the presence of mighty men, 
playing there at bowls with balls of iron, as Rip 
van Winkle's friends were playing -dS. ■m.T:ve.^\v&, %a ■* 



1 



234 1"HE SCIENCE OK FAIRY TALES, 

Wallachian saga connects the Wild Hunl with a mys- 
terious forest castle built by the Knight Sigmirian, who 
was cursed with banishment for three hundred years from 
the society of men for refusing llie daughter of the King 
of Stones. In the same category we must put the spectral 
host in the Donner^berg, and Herla's company, which 
haunted the Welsh marches, and is di^cribed by Walter 
Map as a great band of men and women on foot an 
chariots, with pack-saddles and panniers, birds and dogs, 
advancing with trumpets and shouts, and all sorts of 
weapons ready for emergencies. Night W3S the usual 
time of Herla's wanderings, but the last time he and his 
train were seen was at noon. Those who then saw them, 
being unable to obtain an answer to their challenge by 
words, prepared to exact one by arms ; hut the moment 
they did so the troop rose into the air and disappeared, 
nor was it ever seen again.' 

This is a different account of Herla from that previously 
quoted from an earlier part of Map's work ; but perhaps, 
if it were worth while to spend the time, not altogether 
irreconcilable with it. The tradition, it should be ob- 
served, appears to have been an English, and not a Welsh, 
tradition, since the host received the English name of 
Herlethiiig. Gervase of Tilbury, writing about the same 
time, reports that Arthur was said by the foresters, or 
woodwards, both in Britain and in Brittany, to be very 
often seen at midday, or in the evening moonlight at 
full of the moon, accompanied by a troop of soldiers, 
hunters, dogs, and the sound of horns. This is mani- 
festly a Celtic tradition. But these occasions are not the 
last on which such appearances have been seen and 
heard in this country. If we may believe a tract pub- 
lished in 1 643, spectral fights had taken place at Keniton, 
in Northamptonshire, during four successive Saturday 
and Sunday nights of the preceding Christ mast ide. By 
those who are reported to have witnessed the phenomenon 
■ MiUler, p. 203 ; Map, Dist. iv. c, 13. 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIR' 



235 

— and among them were several gentlemen of credit 
mentioned by name as despatched by the king himself 
from Oxford — it was taken to be a ghostly repetition of 
the battle of Edgehill, which had been fought only two" 
months before on the adjacent fields. The excitement of 
men's minds during periods of commotion has doubtless 
much to do with the currency of beliefs like this. Saint 
Augustine alludes to a story of a battle between evil 
spirits beheld upon a plain in Campania during the civil 
wars of Rome. As in the case of Edgehill, the vision 
was accompanied by all the noises of a conflict ; and 
indeed the saint goes the length of declaring that after it 
wa.s over the ground was covered with the footprints of 
men and horses. On the spot where this is said to have 
happened an actual battle took place not very long after.' 
These two instances are unconnected with the Sleeping 
-Host ; but many of the legends explicitly declare the 
exercises of the host when it emerges from its retirement 
to consist of a sham fight. Although the legends con- 
taining this account are not all found among Teutonic 
peoples, it cannot be deemed irrelevant to draw attention 
to the fact that similar fights are mentioned as the daily 
occupation of the heroes who attain to Valhalla, just as 
the nightly feasts of that royslering paradise correspond 
to the refreshments provided for the warriors around 
the tables of stone in their subterranean retreats. 
Whatever may have been the creed of other European 
races, it is hardly lo be doubted that in these German 
superstitions we have an approach to the primitive belief, 
of which the Eddaic Valhalla was a late and idealized 
development. 

But we may — nay, we must^ — go further. For in the 
history of traditional religions goddesses have been as 
popular as gods ; and if we are right in seeing, with 
Grimm, the archaic gods in the Hidden Heroes, some 

' Gen-. Tilb., Dec. ii. c. 12; " Itook of Days," vol. [. p. 154; 
Augustine, "l)e Civ. Dei," 1. ii- c. 25. 



1 



2^6 THE SCIENCE OK FAIRY TALES. 

where we must find their mates, the corresponding 
goddesses. We have already had gUmpses of theni 
in Morgan the Fay, in the Emperor Frederick's lady- 
housekeeper (ausgnberin) and in the maid who in 
another saga attended on his bidding. The lady-house- 
keeper is expressly called in one story Dame HoUe. 
Now Dame Holle herself is the leader of a Furious Host, 
or Wild Ifunt," and-iias beon identified by Grimm beyond 
any doubt as a pagan goddess, like Berchta. 

Let us take another story in which the female com- 
panion of the enchanted hero appears. Near the town of 
Garz, on the island of Riigen, lies a lake by which a castle 
formerly stood. It belonged to an old heathen king, 
whose avarice heaped up great store of gold and jewels in 
the vaults beneath. It was taken and destroyed by the 
Christians, and its owner was transformed into a great 
black dog ever watching his treasure. Sometimes he is 
stiil seen in human form with helm, or golden croivn, and 
coat of mail, riding a grey liorse over the city and the 
lake ; sometimes he is met with by night in the forest, 
wearing a black fur cap and carrying a white staiF. It is 
possible to disenchant him, but only if a pure virgin, on 
St. John's night between twelve and one o'clock, will 
venture, naked and alone, to climb the castle wall and 
wander backwards to and fro amid the ruins, until she 
light upon the spot where the stairway of the tower leads 
down into the treasure chambjr. Slipping down, she will 
then be able to take as much gold and jewels as she can 
carry, and what she cannot herself carry the old king will 
bring after her, so that she will be rich for the rest of her 
life. But she must return by sunrise, and she must not 
once look behind her, nor speak a single word, else not 
only will she fail, but shs will perish miserably. A 
princess who was accused of unchastity obtained her 
father's permission to try this adventure, in order to 
prove the falsehood of the charge against her. She safely 
gained the vatilt, which was illuminated with a thousand 



ly- ^ 



THE SUPERNATURAL I 



; OF TIME IN FAl 



KD. 237 



lights. The king, a Uttle grey old man, bestowed the 
treasure upon her, and sent a number of servants laden 
with it to follow her. All would have gone well, but 
unhappily when she had climbed a few of the old step.; 
she looked round to see if the servants were coming. At 
once the king changed into a great black dog, that sprang 
upon her with fiery throat and glowing eyes. She just 
had time to scream out when the door slammed to, the 
steps sank, and she fell back into the vault in darkness. 
She has sat there now for four hundred years, waiting 
until a pure youth shall find his way down in the same 
manner on St. John's night, shall bow to her thrice and 
silently kiss her. He may then take her hand and lead 
her forth to be his bride ; and he will inherit sueh riches 
as a whole kingdom cannot buy." 

But goddesses do not always play so secondary a part. 
In a wood in Pomerania stands a round, flat hill called 
the Castle HiU, and at its foot hes a little lake known as 
the Hertha Lake. By its name it is thus directly con- 
nected with one of the old divinities, like that lake on the 
island of Rugen referred to in Chapter IV. And here, 
too, a mysterious lady has been seen to wash, a young 
and lovely maiden, clad in black — not in secret, as iii the 
former instance, but openly, as if for the purpose of 
attracting attention from passers-by, and of being spoken 
to. At last a broad-shouldered workman, named Kramp, 
ventured to give the maiden "the time of day," and to 
get her into conversation. She told him she was a 
princess, who, with her castle, had been from time 
immemorial enchanted, and that she was still waiting for 
her deliverer. The mode of loosing the spell was by 
carrying her on his back in silence to the churchyard of 
Wussekcn and there putting her down, being careful not 
to look round the while ; for, happen what would, he could 
take no harm, even if it were threatened to tear his head 
oif. He undertook the task, and had nearly accomplished 

■ Jalm, p. 182, c^wolinE AjQilV, 



I 



! THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

vithout troubling in the least ab.iut the troopa of spirits 
which followed him, when suddenly, as he drew near the 
churchyard, a hurricane arose and took his cap off. For- 
getful of his promise, he looked round ; and the maiden 

e into the air, weeping and crying out that she could 
never be delivered now. A story told in Mecklenburg is 

re picturesque. It concerns the daughter of a lake- 
king, who leagued hiinself with other knights against a 
robber, the owner of a castle called the Glamburg, which 

i a place of some strength, being entirely surrounded 
by the water of the Lake of Glam. The confederates 

re defeated ; and nine large round barrows were raised 
the next day over the slain, among whom was the lake- 
king. His daughter wept upon her father's grave, and 
her tears, as they touched the earth, became lovely blue 
flowers. These flowers still grow upon the loftiest of the 
nine barrows, while the others are quite destitute of them. 
The princess threw herself that night — it was St. John's 
night — into the lake ; and now every year on St. John's 
night, between twelve and one o'clock, a bridge of copper 
rises out of the lake, and the princess appears upon it, 
sighing for her deliverance.' 

The typical form of the tale is as follows : In the 
Buchenberg by Doberan dwells an enchanted princess, who 

1 only be released once in a hundred years, on St. 
John's Day between twelve and one. In the year 1818 
a servant boy was watching sheep on the eastern side of 
the Buchenberg the day before St. John's day. About 
noon a white lady appeared to him and told him that he 
could deliver her, if he would, the next day at the same 
hour, kiss her. She would then come to him in the form 

a toad with a red band round its neck. The shepherd 
promised ; but the next day when he saw the toad he was 
so horrified that he ran away. A variant records the hour 
as between twelve and one at night, and the form of the 
lady as a snake which sought to twine round the shep- 



' Knoopi Pi 10 -, BaiV^, \ 



^a^V 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 239 

herd's neck. A great treasure buried in the hill would 
have been his had he stood the proof ; but now the lady 
will have to wait until a beech tree shall have grown up 
on the spot and been cut down, and of its timber a cradle 
made : the child that is rocked in that cradle will have 
power to save her. This is in effect the story told by 
Sir John Maundeville concerning the daughter of 
Hippocrates, the renowned physician, who was said to 
have been enchanted by Diana on the island of Cos,* or 
(as he calls it) Lango, and given with so much of Mr. 
William Morris' power in "The Earthly Paradise."' 
"Then listen!" says the damsel in the ruined castle 
to- the seaman whom she meets — 

" Then listen i when this dny is overpast, 

A fearful monsler I shall be again, 
And thou may'st 1)c my saviour nl the ]ist. 

Unless, once more, thy words are nought and vnln ; 

If Ihou of love and sovereignly art rain, 
Cotne thou next morn, and when thou seest here 
A hideous dragon, have thereof no fear, 

" But lake the loalhsome head up in thine hands. 

And ki^ it, and be master presently 
Of twice the wealth that is in all the lands, 

From Cathay to the head of Italy ; 

And master also, if it pleaseth thee, 
Of all thou praisesl as so fresh and bright, 
or what thou callest crown of all delight. 



" Ah, me 1 to hold my child ujxin my knees, 
After the weeping of unkindly tears, 
And all the wrongs of these four hundred years." 

But the horrible apparition of the dragon was too much 
for the adventurer's courage : 

" He cried out and wildly at her smote, 
Shutting his eyes, and turned and from the place 
Ran swiftly, with a while and ghastly face," 

' Barlscb, vol. i. p. 271 ; "EaiVj Tiot.," ■g. v*^. 



240 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 

to die within three days, a raving maniac. And 



To seek her w 



's ruttn, antl end her w 



It ivoiild be too tedious to run through even a small 
proportion of the examples of this tale, almost innumer- 
able in Germany alone. Fortunately, it will only be | 
necessary to allude to a few of its chief features. When ' 
the enchanted princess assumes a monstrous form, the 1 
usual ordeal of the would-be deliverer is to kiss her, A 
toad or a snake i.s, perhaps, her favourite form ; but , 
occasionally she is half wonian, half toad, or half woman, 
half snake. Further transformations now and then take 
place, as from a snake into a fiery dog, or from a bear 
into a lion, from a lion into a snake. Sometimes as a 
bear alone she threatens her dehverer. In a Carint 
saga he is to cut three birch rods at the full of the moon, 
and then wait at the appointed place. The damsel 
approaches in the guise of a snake, with a bunch of keys 
in her mouth, and menaces him, hissing and snorting fire. 
Unmoved by the creature's rage, he is to strike her thrice 
on the head with each rod and take the keys from her 
mouth. In the Duchy of Luxemburg the favourite form 
assumed by the princess is that of a fire-breathing snake, 
bearing in her mouth a bunch of keys, or a ring ; and 
the deliverer's task then is to take the keys or ring away 
with his own mouth. It is believed that Melusina, whose 
story we shall deal with in the following chapters, 
enchanted beneath the Bockfels, a rock near tlie town of , 
Luxemburg. There she appears every seventh year i 
human form and puts one stitch in a smock. When sh 
shall have finished sewing the smock she will be delivered ; 
but woe then to the town ! for its ruins will be her grave 
and monument. Men have often undertaken her earlier 
deliverance. This is to be effected at midnight, when she 
appears as a snake, by taking with the moutli a key 



I 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSli OF TIME IN FAlRVLAND. 24I 

from her mouth and flinging it into the Alzet. No 
one, however, has yet succeeded in doing this ; and 
meantime when a calamity threatens the town, whose 
faithful guardian she is, she gives warning by gliding 
round the Bockfels uttering loud laments.' 

But in many of the sagas the princess meets her hero 
in her own proper shape, and then the feat to be per- 
formed varies much more. In a Prussian tale she comes 
out of a deep lake, which occupies the site of a once- 
mighty castle, at sunset, clothed in black, and accompanied 
hy a black dog. The castle belonged to the young lady's 
parents, who were wicked, though she herself was pious ; 
and it was destroyed on account of their evil doings. 
Since that time she has wandered around, seeking some 
bold and pious man who will follow her into the depths 
of the lake, and thus remove the curse. This would seem 
but another form of the tradition of the lake at the foot 
of the Herthaburg on the isle of Rugen. In another 
story the lady must be brought an unbaptized child to 
kiss. In yet another the deliverer is led down through a 
dark underground passage into a brilliantly lighted room, 
where sit three black men writing at a table, and is 
bidden to take one of two swords which lie on the table 
and strike off" the enchanted lady's head. To cut off the 
head of a bewitched person is an effectual means of 
■ destroying the spell. So, in the Gaelic story of the 

■ Bartsch, vol. i. pp. z6g (citing Nieclerhofter, Lclow), 271, 27a, 273, 
S74, 31S. Ill this last case it is a mirn who is to be saved by a kisii 
ftom a woman while he is in serpent form. Niedeihoffer, vol. i. 
pp. 58, 16S, vol, ii. p. 235; Meier, pp. 6, 31, 321; Kulin 11ml 
Schwartz, pp. 9, 201 ; Bating Gould, p. 223, citing Kocnemanit, 
" Mons Veneris," and Prtelorius, " Wellbeschreitiung ; Jahn, p. 220 ; 
Rappold, p. 135. Gcedl, pp. 8, 9, 215, 228, &c. In one of Meier's 
Swahian tales the princess appears as a snake and flings herself round 
the neck of her would-be deliverer — a woman — who is to strike her 
lightly with a bunch of juniper : Meier, p. 27. In one of Kuhn und 
Schwartz' collection, where the princess becomes a toad, no ceremony 
is prescribed ; Kuha und Schwartz, p. g. 



24' 



■: SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 



Widow and her Daughli 
horst-ogre, who thereupon 



; heroine decapitates the 
i to his true form as a 
s her. A large number of parallel 
instances might easily be given ; but they would lead 
us too far alielii. The lady of the Princess Hill, near 
Warin, in Mecklenburg, has to be held fast from mid- 
night until one o'clock in spite of all frightful apparitions 
of snakes, dragons, and toads which crowd around and 
threaten the adventurer. In the same way Peleus, 
desiring to secure Thetis, had to hold her fast through 
her various magical changes until she found resistance 
useless, and returned to her true form. In a modern 
Cretan tale the hero, by the advice of an old woman, 
seizes at night a Nereid by the hair and holds her until 
the cock crows, in spite of her changes successively into 
a dog, a snake, a camel, and fire. The process of dis- 
enchanting Tam Lin, in the ballad of that name, was for 
his lady-love to take him in her arms and hold him, not- 
withstanding his transformalion into a snake, a bear, a 
lion, a red-hot iron, and lastly into a "burning gleed," 
when he was to be immediately flung into a well." 

We have already seen that the task is sometimes to ' 
carry the maiden to a churchyard. At the Castle Hill of 
Butow she was to be carried to the Polish churchyard 
and there thrown to the ground with all the dehverer's 
might. A castie is said to have stood formerly on the 
site of Budow Milt in Eastern Pomcrania. j\.n enchanted 
princess now haunts the place. She is only to be freed 
by a bachelor who will carry her in silence, and without 
looking behind him, around the churchyard ; but the 
spirits which hold her under their spell will seek in every 
way to hinder her deliverance. On the Muggelsberg is, 
or was (for it is said to be now destroyed), a large stone 
under which a treasure lies. It was called the Devil's 



■ Vpn Teltau, p. 230 ; Kuhn 
Jahn, p. 249 ; OviJ, " Melam.' 
tcUing SchniiJi, "Volkleben iler 



, pp, 66, 99; Barlsch, vol. i. p. 272 ; 
1. xi. f. 5 ; Child, vol. i. pp. 336 
Neuariechen," p. 115), 340. 



[ 



THE SUiT.RNATURAL LAPSE OF TIM 



r FAIRVLAND. 243 



Altar ; and at night it often seemed, from the neighbour- 
ing village of Muggelsheim, to be in a blaze ; but on 
drawing near the fire would vanish from sight. At 
KSpenick, another village not far off, it was called the 
Princesses' Stone, but the lake at the foot of the hill was 
called the Devil's Lake. The stone was said to occupy 
the site of a castle, now enchanted and swallowed up in 
the earth. Beneath it a hole ran deep into the mountain, 
out of which a princess was sometimes of an evenipg seen 
to come, with a casket of pure gold in her hand. He who 
would carry her thrice round the church of Kopenick 
without looking about him, would win thecasket of gold 
and deliver her. The names of the stone and of the 
lake, as well as the attendant circumstances, are strong 
evidence in favour of the conclusion that we have in this 
superstition a relic of heathen times, and a record of 
some divinity believed to reside at that spot. A princess, 
clad in white and having a golden spinning-wheel in 
her hand, was believed to appear on the Castle Hill at 
Biesenthal, at midday. Once at midnight she appeared 
to a gardener who had often heard voices at night 
summoning him to the castle garden. At first he was 
frightened at the vision, but at length consented to carry 
her to the church, which stands near the hill. He took 
her on his back ; but when he entered the churchyard 
gate he suddeiily met a carriage drawn by coal-black 
horses, which vomited fire. So terrified was he that he 
shrieked aloud, whereupon the carriage vanished, and the 
princess flew away moaning : " For ever lost ! " In a 
case where a prince had been enchanted, the feat was to 
wrestle with him three nights in succession.' 

But it was not always that so hard a task was set before 
the deliverer. To our thinking, it says little for the 
German way of doing business that the difficulty in un- 

' Knoop, pp. 6, 57; Kuhn, pp. 113, 17a; Kuhn und Schwarti, p. f. 
I The prohilHlion 10 look back was iinpoied un Orpheus when he went 
e Eurydice from Il^ides. 



344 



ot faIrV taLes. 



spelling the castle near Lossin, and the maiden who 
dwelt therein, was to buy a pair of shoes without 
bargaining and cheapening their price, but to pay for 
them exactly the piece of money which the maiden 
handed to the youth who undertook the enterprise. In 
another case a maiden was seen to scour a kettle at i 
little lake. She was enchanted. The man who beheld 
her thought the kettle would prove useful at his ap- 
proaching wedding, and borrowed it on the express c 
dition of returning it at a fixed time. He failed to do so, 
and the Evil One came and fetched it ; and the ma 
had to wait longer for her deliverance. There are stories 
similar to this of fairies lending such articles on this 
condition. If the condition be not complied with, the 
fairies are never seen again. Aubrey relates that in the 
vestry of Frensham Church, in Surrey, is a great kettle, 
which was borrowed from the fairies who lived in the 
Borough Hill, about a mile away. It was not returned 
according to promise, and though afterwards taken back, 
it was not received, nor since that time had there been 
any borrowing there.' 

A man who was in the habit of meeting in a certain 
wood an adder, which always sneezed thrice as he passed, 
consulted his parish priest on the subject. The priest 
advised him to say the next time, as he would to a human 
friend who sneezed : "God help theel" The man did 
so, whereupon the adder shot forth before him with fiery 
body and terrible rattling, so startling him that he 
turned and fled. The snake hurried after him, crying 
out that it would not hurt him, but that if he would take 
{not, however, with naked hands) the bunch of key.s that 
hung about its neck, it would then lead the way to a 
great treasure and make him happy. He turned a deaf 
ear to these entreaties ; and as he ran away he heard the 
snake exclaim that now it must remain enchanted until 

' Knoop, pp. Sli 59 ; Keightley, p. 295, quoting Aubrey's "Natural | 
History 0/ Surrey " ; " Cent. Mag. Lib." (,1'op. Supers.), p. 280. 



THE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 



!4S 



yon little oak tree had grown great, and a cradle had been 
made out of the timber : the first child that lay in that 
cradle would be able to deliver it. The same incident / 
reappears in another saga, in which some men passing 
through the forest hear a sneeze, and one of them says ; 
" God help thee ! " The sneeze and the blessing are 
repeated ; but when the sneeze was heard a third time, 
the man exclaimed : " Oh, go to the devil ! "' "I believe 
somebody is making game of us," said another. But a 
mannikin stepped forward and said: "If you had said a 
third time ' God help thee ! ' I should have been saved. 
Now I must wait until an acorn falls from yonder 
tree and becomes an oak, and a cradle is made out of its 
timber. The child that comes to lie in that cradle will 
be able to deliver me." In this case all that was required 
was a thrice-repeated blessing. Another curious means 
of deliverance is found in a story from Old Strelitz. 
There an enchanted princess haunted a bridge a short 
distance from one of the gates of the town, on the road 
to Woldegk. Whoever in going over this bridge uttered 
a certain word, could unspell her if he would afterwards 
allow her to walk beside him the rest of the way over the 
bridge without speaking ; but the difficulty was that 
nobody knew what the powerful word was." 

Two other legends may be noticed on the mode of 
undoing the spell. The White Lady who haunts the 
White Tower on the White Hill at Prague was married 
to a king. She betrayed him, and married his enemy, 
from whom she subsequently fled with an officer of his 
army. She was, however, caught, and walled up in the 
White Tower. From this she may be delivered if she can 
find any one who will allow her to give him three stabs 
in the breast with a bayonet without uttering a sound. 
Once she prevailed on a young recruit, who was placed 
as sentinel before the magazine of the castle, to stand the 
necessary trial ; but on receiving the first blow he coM-Vi. 
' Meier, pp. 299, ^7 '• Nie(\eihoHeY, \q\.V\\,^. i^a.. 



346 THE SCIENCE OF FAItlV TALES, 

not forbearcryingaloud ; " Jesus! Mary! thou hast given 
it me ! " Another old castle in Bohemia has twelve 
ladies enchanted by day as fish in the fountain of the 
castle garden, and appearing only at night in their true 
shape. They can not be disenchanted unleK by twelve 
men who will remain in the castle for twelve months 
without once going outside the walls.' 

These bring us to a number of mdrchen in which the 
bespelled heroine is released by a youth who suffers 
torture on her account. The Transylvanian gipsies tell 
a tale of a very poor man who, instructed by a dream, 
climbed a certain mountain and found a beautiful maiden 
before a cavern, spinning her own golden hair. She had 
been sold by her heartless parents to an eiil spirit, who 
compelled her to this labour ; but she could be saved if 
she could find any one witling to undergo in silence, for 
her sake, an hour's torture from the evil spirit on three 
successive nights. The man expressed himself ready to 
make the attempt ; he entered the cave, and at midnight 
a gigantic Prikulich, or evil spirit, appeared, and 
questioned him as to who he was and what he wanted 
there. Failing to get any reply, the Prikulich flung him 
to the ground and danced about madly on him. The 
man endured without a moan ; and at one o'clock the 
Prikulich disappeared. The second night the man was 
beaten with a heavy hammer, and so tortured that the 
maiden had great difficulty in persuading him to stand 
the third proof. While she was praying him, however, to 
stay, the Prikulich appeared the third time, and beat him 
again with the hammer until he was half dead. Then 
the goblin made a fire and flung him into it. The poor 
fellow uttered not a single sound, in spite of all this 
torment ; and the maiden was saved and wedded her 
deliverer. This is a tale by no means uncommon. Want 
of space forbids us to follow it in detail, but a few 
references in the note below will enable the reader to do 
' Giohm&iviv, ^"£1. 5&, y>. I 



1 

I 



■; SUPERNATURAL I-*PSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 247 



SO if he please. Meantime, I will only say th: 
the princess who is thus to be rescued is enchanted in the 
form of a snake, sometimes of a she-goat, sometimes of a 
bird ; and in one of the stories she herself, in the shape 
of a monster like a hedgehog, comes out of a coffin to tear , 
the hero in pieces.' The group is allied, on the one 
hand, to that of Fearless Johnny who, passing the night 
in a haunted house, expelled the ghosts, or goblins, which 
had taken possession of it ; on the other hand, to that of 
the Briar Rose, illustrated by Mr. Burne Jones' series^cif _. 
paintings. / 

The Briar Rose, or The Beauty of Sleeping Wood, as 1 
it comes to us from Perrauh's hands, is the story of a 1 
maiden who was cursed by an offended fairy to pierce j 
her hand with a spindie and to die of it— a curse after- 
wards mitigated into a sleep of a hundred years. Every 
effort was made by the king, her father, to avert the 
doom, but in vain ; and for a whole century the princess 
and all her court remained in the castle in a magical ' 
sleep, while the castle itself and all within it were 
protected from intrusion by an equally magical growth t 
of brambles and thorns, which not only prevented access, 
but entirely hid it from view. At length a king's son 
found his way in at the very moment the fated period H 
came to an end ; or, as we have it in other versions, he 
awakened the maiden with a kiss. In the old stories of 
the Niblungs and the Volsungs Odin has pricked the 
shield-maid Brynhild with a sleep-thorn, and thus con- 
demned her to sleep within the shield-burg on Hindfell. 
Attracted by the appearance of fire, Sigurd comes to the 
shield-burg and, finding Brynhild, releases her from her - i 
slumber by ripping up her armour with his sword. This 
is chronologically the earliest form of the myth of the 
Enchanted Princess with which we are acquainted ; and I 

' Von Wlislocki, p. 76 ; Campbell, vol, ii. p. 193 ; Liizel, " Contes," 
vol. i. pp. 198, 217; "Annuaire lies Trail. Pop," l88l, ?. e,v. Y\Mt, 
yol. T. pp. 338,248; Grundtvig, Tol.i.p. i^-, SiAmsJici,^- ^w^^*^ J 



1 



243 



S SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 



it is interwoven with the very fibres of the Teutonic 
mythologj'. It is no wonder, therefore, that the Germans 
have given it so prominent a place in their folk-lore. 
So far as now appears it is less conspicuous in the folt- 
tore of the other European races with the exception of 
the Slaves, and when it does show itself it shows itself 
chiefly as a mdrchen. But, although what we know of 
the folk-lore of the Teutonic and Slavonic races may sug- 
gest reasons for this, we must not forget how rarely we 
can dogmatize with safety on national characteristics. 
To this rule the folk-lore of a nation is no exception ; 
nay, rather, the rule applies with a double emphasis 
to a subject the scientific investigation of which has so 
lately begun and has yet achieved so little. 

Declining this speculation, therefore, we turn to a last 
point in the sagas before us, namely, the propitious time 
for the disenchantment. Different times of the year are 
spoken of for this purpose. In some stories it is Advent, 
or New Year's night, when the lady makes her appear- 
ance and may be delivered. In a Pomeranian saga, 
where a woman cursed her seven daughters and they 
became mice, a woman, who is of the same age as the 
mother when she uttered the curse, must come with 
seven sons of the same ages as the daughters were when 
they were cursed, on Good Friday at noon, to the thicket 
where tlie mice are, and put her sons on a certain round 
stone there. The seven mice will then return to human 
shape ; and when the children are old enough they will 
marry, and become rich and happy for the rest of their 
lives. A Carinthian tale requires the deliverer to come 
the next full moon after "May-Sunday" ; and May-night 
is the date fixed in another case. But the favourite time 
is St. John's Day, either at noon or midnight.' Some of 

' Meier, p. z6; Barlsch, vol. i. pp. 271, 272, 274 ; Jahn, p. 185 [ 
Rappold, p. 135 i Barlsch, vol. v. pp. 269, 270, 271, 272, 
283, 308, 318 ; Niederhoffei, vol. i. p. 16S, vol. ii. p. 235, voi. 
171 ; Xnoop, p. 10 ; Jahn, pp. 182, 1S5, 206, 207, 217, 220, aai ; and 
masif others. 



I 



rTHE SUPERNATURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 249 ^H 
ihuse (lays are ecdesiaiitical festivals ; but perhaps tlie ^H 
only one which has not superseded an ancient heathen ^H 
feast is Good Friday. The policy of the Church, in \, ^^ 
consecrating to Christian uses as many as possible of 
the seasons and customs she found already liououred 
^^ among the peoples she had conquered, seized upon their r* 

^L holy days and made them her own. And if the science 
^H of Folk-lore has taught us anything, it is that the observ- 
^1 ances on these converted holy days external to the rites 
^H demanded by the Church are relics of the ceremonies , 
^H performed in pagan days to pagan deities. In none of 
^H these instances has the proof been more conclusive than _, 
^H in that of St. John's, or Midsummer Day. Grimm, first, ' 
^H with abundant learning, and more recently Mr. Frazer, 

^H with a wealth of illustration surpassing that of Grimm 
^H himself, and indeed inaccessible in his day, have shown 
^H that the Midsummer festival was kept in honour of the 
^^B sun ; that it consisted of the ceremonial kindling of fire, 
^^fe the gathering and use of floral garlands, the offering of ' 
^^1 human and other sacrifices, and the performance of sacred 
^^^ dances ; and that its object was to increase the power of 
^^H the sun by magical sympathy, to obtain a good harvest 
^^H and fruitfulness of all creatures, and to purge the sins of 
^^K the people. It was, in fact, the chief ceremony of the 
^^V year among the European races. 

^^1 Prominent among the remnants of these ceremonies 

^^H continued down to modern days arc the Midsummer 
^^H bonfires. These were lighted on the tops of mountains, , 
^^H hills, or even barrows. This situation may be thought 
^^1 to have symbolic reference to the solstice ; but probably 
^^1 a still more powerful reason for it was the already sacred 
^^1 character of such places. But we need hardly consider I 
^^1 whether the ceremonies of which the bonfires are the I 
^^H remnant, were observed on the hill-tops and other high I 
^^1 places because the latter were already sacred, or, con- I 
^^H versely, the hill tops and other high places were held I 
^^^ sacred because of the ceremonies eu3,i;lsi \i\>iT«;-, ^.w '■vsj.J 



250 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

either- case ihe 8anctTt3rremains. Wells and pools, too, 
many of them still held sacred, were in various ways the 
objects of superstition at the Midsummer festival ; for 
which the Church, when she chose to take the practices 
under her protection, had an ample excuse in St. John's 
mission to baptize.' Now, whatever spots were the haunt 
of pagan divinities, there it was doubtless that those divi- 
nities were expected to appear ; and by the same reasoning 
they would be most likely to appear during the favoured 
hours of the holy days. This is exactly what we find to 
be the case with Enchanted Princesses, and, so far as the 
days are recorded, with Sleeping Heroes. The heroes lie 
within the hills, which in many legends are only open 
on certain days. The princesses appear upon the hills, 
or by the sides of pools, the sites, if we believe the 
legends, of ancient castles where th^y dwelt. Once in 
the year, or once in a cycle of years, on a certain day, 
usually Midsummer Day or Midsummer Eve, they come 
to wash, or to fetch water, in their own form, either 
compelled or permitted by the terms of the curse that 
has bound them ; and then it is that mortals are admitted 
to an interview and may render them the service of dis- 
enchantment. The instances in which the days are 
specified are so frequent we may perhaps suspect that 
they were originally mentioned in all, but that time and 
other circumstances have caused them to be forgotten. 
However this may be, it is only reasonable to conclude 
that, in the number of instances remaining, we have a 
tradition of the honours long ago paid to these degraded 
divinities on the days appointed for their worship. 

' **Gent. Mag. Lib." (Pop. Superst.) p. 51 ; Brand, vol. i. p. 250, 
note; Pitre, vol. xii. pp. 304, 307; Bartsch, vol. ii. p. 288; *• Anti- 
quary," vol. xxi. p. 195, vol. xxii. p. 67. Cf, a legend in which the 
scene haunted by the enchanted lady is a Johannisbcrg on the top of 
which is a chapel dedicated to St. John the Baptist, to which pilgrim- 
ages were made and the lady appeared on Midsummer Day (Gredt, 
pp. 2i$y 219, 225, 579). 



THE SCPERXATtTLlI. tAPSE OF TIME IS rAIKTL.iND. 25 1 

I may be going too Hi in suggesting Um the feaU to 
be perfonned sSoid same confirnatioQ of this cofKlnsion ; 
yet it seems to tne there is much to be said for such an 
opinion. The appearance of a god in aQimal form — 
even in a loathsome ^njrnal form — would not dert^ate 
from his essential godhead. Where in these stories the 
deliverer h:^K to deal with an animal, a kiss is the usual 
task prescribed. Kissing is a very andent and well- 
known act of worship, which survives among us in many 
a practice of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in 
the form of oath taken daily in our law courts ; and it 
may be that the more repulsive the object to be kissed, 
the greater the merit of kissing it. Again, the lady who 
required to be followed into the depths of a lake may be 
matched with the goddess Hertha, whose sla\es were 
drowned in the self-same waters wherein they had 
washed her ; nor does it seem more menial to carry a 
princess than to wash a goddess. The ceremony of 
carrying may indeed be the relic of a solemn procession, 
or of a sacred drama. The words of blessing following 
on a sneeze need no explanation ; and the omission to 
return at the promised time a borrowed kettle would be 
more likely to provoke the anger of a god than to retard 
the deliverance of a mortal. This is implied by the 
statement that the devil fetched the kettle himself ; and 
we need have little doubt that in an earlier form the 
story so described it. I am unable to explain the 
unknown word which would deliver the lady who 
haunted the bridge at Old Strelitz, unless it be a 
reminiscence of an incantation. 

There remain the demand for an unbaptized child tc 
kiss, the torture to which the heroes of the two Bohemian 
sagas submit, the requirement in the Pomeranian talc to 
place seven brothers on the Monc haunted by the seven 
mice, and lastly the personal violence lo the damsel 
involved in striking her with a birch-rod or a bunch of 
juniper and in behcadal. In %U thu^iu wu ^^u\y)kt^^j \Ai4% 



1 



252 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

cj^ trag£ij:iL-«ua:ifice. The offering of an innocent child is 
familiar, if not comprehensible, enough to any one who 
has the most superficial acquaintance with savage rites. 
We haVe^iready seen that an unbaptized child is regarded 
~as a pagan, and is an object of desire on the part of super- 
^ natural beings. The same reasons which induce fairies 
to steal it would probably render it an acceptable offering 
to a pagan_divinity. No words need be wasted on the 
torturcj or the tale of the mice. But the personal 
violence, if indeed the remnant of a tradition of sacrifice, 
involves the slaughter of the divinity herself. This 
might be thought an insuperable objection ; but it is 
not really so. For^ however absurd it may seem to us, 
it is a very widespread custom to sacrifice to a divinity 
his living representative or incarnation, whether in 
animal or human form. It is believed in such cases that 
the victim's spirit, released by sacrifice, forthwith finds a 
home in another body. The subject is too vast and 
complex to be discussed here at length ; the reader who 
desires to follow it out can do so in Mr. Frazer^s pro- 
foundly interesting work on "The Golden Bough." 
Assuming, however, the custom and belief, as here 
stated, to be admitted, it will be seen that the underlying 
thought is precisely that which we want in order to 
explain this mode of disenchantment. For if, on the 
one hand, what looks like murder be enjoined in a 
number of stories for the purpose of disenchanting a 
bewitched person ; and if, on the other hand, the result 
of solemnly slaughtering a victim be in fact held to be 
simply the release of the victim's spirit — nay, if it was 
the prescribed mode of releasing that spirit — to seek a 
new, sometimes a better, abode in a fresh body, we 
may surely be satisfied that both these have the same 
origin. We may then go further, and see in this 
unspelling incident, performed, as in the Enchanted 
Princess stories, in this way, at a haunted spot, fre- 
quently on a day of specis^l sanctity, one more proof th^t 



[THE SUPEENAtURAL LAPSE OF TIME IN FAIRYLAND. 25^ 
the princess hcr-self was in the earlier sl^pe of the 
traditions no other than-a-goddess. 
Finally : the myth of the Enchanted Princess has pre- 
served in many of its variants a detail more archaic than 
any in that of the Sleeping Hero, and one ivhich is decisive 
as to the lady's real status. If Frederick were to arise and 
CJme forth from his sleeping- place, the Kyffhauser itself 
would remain. If Arthur were to awake and quit the 
Castle Rock, the rock itself wherein he lay would still 
be there. But the lake or mountain haunted by an 
enchanted maiden often owes its very existence, if not to 
her, at least to the spell which holds her enthralled. 

■ When she is delivered the place ivill be changed ; the 
lake will give way to a palace ; the earth will open and a 
buried castle will reascend to the surface ; what is now 
nothing but an old grey boulder will forthivith return to 

its previouscondition of an inhabited and stately building ; 

or what is now a dwelling of men will become desolate. 
^_ One of the best examples of this is the superstition I have 
^^B already cited concerning Melusina, When she finishes 
^H her needlework she will be disenchanted, but only to die ; 
^^1 and the ruins of the town of Luxemburg will be her 
^H grave and monument. In other words, the existence of 
^H the town is bound up with her enchantment, — that is to 
^^M say, with her life. In the same way the bespelled damsel 
^H of the Urschelberg, near Pfullingen, in Swabia, is called 
^^1 by the very name of the mountain — the Old Urschel. 
^H This can only be the survival of a belief in the enchanted 
^H lady as the indwelling spirit, the sou!, the real life ofthe 
^H spot she haunted : a belief which goes back to a deeper 
^H depth of savagery than one that regards her as a local 
^H goddess, and out of which the latter would b:: easily 
^^1 developed.' 

^^H > Von Tetlnu, p. 21a ; Kuhn uml SchwacU, pp. 9, zoo ; Meier, ;>p, 6, 
^^1 8 i Gredt, pp. 7- "8, 381. In anottei stoiy, quoted by Meier (p. 34), 
^^H from CruMus' "Schwab. Chron.", the enchanted maiJen is called "a 
^^H^ heathen's daoEhter "— poinling <lireclly lo psgan origin. 



V 

254 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

These considerations by no means exhaust the case ; 
but I have said enough in support of conclusions anti- 
cipated by Grimm's clear-sighted genius and confirmed 
by every fresh discovery. Let me, therefore, recapitulate 
the results of the investigations contained in this and the 
two preceding chapters. We have rapidly examined 
several types of fairy tales in which the hero, detained 
in Fairyland, is unconscious of the flight of time. These 
tales are characteristic of a high rather than a low stage 
of civilization. Connected with them we have found the 
story of King Arthur, the Sleeping Hero, " rex quondam^ 
rex que futurus^'' the expected deliverer, sometimes be- 
lieved to be hidden beneath the hills, at other times in 
a far-off land, or from time to time traversing the world 
with his band of attendants as the Wild Hunt. This 
is a tradition of a heathen god put down by Christianity, 
but not destroyed in the hearts and memories of the 
people — a tradition independent of political influences, 
but to which oppression is apt to give special and 
enduring vitality. The corresponding tradition con- 
cerning a heathen goddess is discovered in the Enchanted 
Princess of a thousand sagas, whose peculiar home; if 
they have one, is in Teutonic and Slavonic countries. 



CHAPTER X. 



The mdrchia of Hasan of Bassorah^The Marquis of the Sun 

feather robe and other disguises — The talioo — The Star's Daughter 
— Melusina— The Lady of the Van Pool and other variants— The 
Nightmare. 

The narratives with which we have hitherto been occu- 
pied belong to the class called Sagas. But our discussions 
of them have led us once and again to refer to the other 
class mentioned in the second Chapter — thai nf Ni irs ery 
T ales or Mdrchen. F or, as I have already pointed out, 
there is no bridgeless gulf between them. We have / ■ 
seen the very same incidents narrated in Wales or in 
Germany with breathless awe as a veritable occurrence 
which in India, or among the Arabs, arc a mere play of 
fancy. Equally well the case may be reversed, and what i 
is gravely told at the antipodes as a series of events in I 
,the life of a Maori ancestor, may be reported in France 
or England as a nursery tale. Nay, we need not go out 
of Europe itself to find the same plot serving for a saga 
'in one land and a marchfn, detached from all circumstances , 
of time and place, in another. 

An excellent exanipl_e_Qt this iiiurnis bed by the myth 
■ of tbeS^aiumaidcn , one o£_the_most \vi deJy distri buted, 
and at the same time one of the most beautiful, stories 
everevglxEi-from- -the mind_of man. As its first type 
I sEalitake the tale of Hasan of^assorab, where it has 
' been treated with an epic grandeur hardly surpassed by 
any of its companions in the famous " Ni^ht^^' 1.^4. 



THK SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 



I 
I 



256 

perhaps only by one of the less famous but equatlj 
splendid Mabiiiogion of old Wales. 

Hasan is a worthless boy who falls under the influence' 
of a Magian, who profc-isos to be an alchemist, and who 
at length kidnaps him. Having used him with great 
cruelty the Magian takes him fifteen days' journey on 
dromedaries into the desert to a high mountain, at the' 
foot whereof the old rascal sews him up in a skin," 
■together with a knife and a small provision of thrt 
cakes and a leathern bottle of water, afterwards retiri; 
to a distance. One of the vultures which infest tl 
mountain then pounces on Hasan and carries him 
the top. In accordance with the Magian's instructions, 
the hero, on arriving there, slits the skin, and jumping 
out, to the bird's affright, picks up and casts down to the 
Magian biuidles of the wood which he finds around him. 
This wood is the means by which the alchemy is per- 
formed ; and having gathered up the bundles the Magiaii.^ 
leaves Hasan to his fate. The youth, after despairing of 
life, finds his way to a palace where dwell seven maidens, 
with whom he remains for awhile in Platonic friendship. 
When they are summoned away by their father for a 
two months' absence, they leave him their keys, straitly 

' charging him not to open a certain door. He disregards 
their wishes, and finds within a magnificent pavilioii 
enclosing a basin brimful of water, at which ten bin 
come to bathe and play. The birds for this purp( 
cast their feathers ; and Hasan is favoured with the 

, of " ten virgins, maids whose beauty shamed 
brilliancy of the moon." He fell madly in love 
the chief damsel, who turns out to be a daughter of a 
King of the Jann. On the return of the niaidens of 
the palace he is advised by them to watch the next time 
the birds come, and to take possession of the feather- 
suit belonging to the damsel of his choice, for without 
this she cannot return home with her attendants, 

succeeds in doing so, and thus compels her to remain. 



ncH^^ 




SWAN-MAIDENS. ^57 

' with him and become his wife. With her he departs to 
ihis own country and settles in Bagdad, where his wife 
bears him two sons. During his temporary absence, 
however, she persuades her mother-in-law — who, un- 

■ fortunately for the happiness of the household, lives 
with the young couple — to let her have the feather-suit 

■which her husband has left under her charge. Clad 
with this she takes her two boys in her arms and sails 

■ away through the air to the islands of Wak, leaving a 
message for the hapless Hasan that if he loves her he 
may come and seek her there. Now the islands of 
Wik were seven islands, wherein was a mighty host, 

"all virgin girls, and the inner isles were peopled by 
satans and marlds and warlocks and various tribesmen 
of the Jinn, and whoso entered their land never returned 
thence ; and Hasan's wife was one of the king's daughters. 
To reach her he would have to cross seven wadys and 
t and seven mighty mountains. Undaunted, 
however, by the difficulties wherewith he is threatened, 
he determines to find her, swearing by Allah never to 
turn back till he regain his beloved, or till death over- 
take him. By the help of sundry potentates of more or 
s forbidding aspect and supernatural power, to whom 
[ he gets letters of introduction, and who live in gorgeous 
I palaces amid deserts, and are served by demons only 
uglier and less mighty than themselves, he succeeds in 
^traversing the Land of Birds, the Land of Wild Beasts, 
the country of the Warlocks and the Enchanters, and 
L the Land of the Jinn, and enters the islands of Wak — 
I there to fall into the hands of that masterful virago, his 
I wife's eldest sister. After a preliminary outburst against 
9 Hasan, this amiable creature pours, as is the wont of 
I 'Women, the full torrent of her wrath against her erring 
I sister. From the tortures she inflicts, Hasan at length 
s wife, with their two sons, by means of a cap 
Ijof invisibility and a rod conferring authority over seven 
Itribes of the Jinn, which he has stolen fiotn l-^Hi \«s^^ 



3^8 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

who are quarrelling over them. When his sister-in-Iaw 
with an army of Jinn pursues the fugitives, the subjects 
of the rod overcome her. His wife begs for her sister's 
life and ro:onciles her husband to her, and then returns 
with her husband to his home in Bagdad, to quit him 
no more." 

Such in meagre outline is this wonderful story. Its 
variants are legion, and I can only rd'er to a few of them 
which are of ?|>ecial interest. In dealing with these I 
shall confine my attention to the essential points of the 
plot, touching only such details as are germane to the 
' " questions thus evoked. We shall accordingly pass in 
review the maiden's disguise and capture, her flight and 
her recapture ; and afterwards turning to other types of 
ihj tale, we shall took at the corresponding incidents to 
be met with therein, reserv-ing for another chapter the 
consideration of the meaning of the myth, so far as it 
can be traced. 

The bird whose shape is assumed by the Jinn in the 
foregoing tale is not specified ; but in Europe, where 
beauty and grace and purity find so apt an emblem in 
the swan, several of the most important variants have 
naturally appropriated that majestic form to the heroine, 
and have thus given a name to the whole group of 
V stories. In Sweden, for example, we are told of a young 
hunter who beheld three swans descend on the sea-shore 
and lay their plumage aside before they plunged into 
the water. When he looked at the robes so laid aside 
they appeared like linen, and the forms that were 
swimming in the waves were damsels of dazzling white- 
ness. Advised by his foster-mother, he secures the linen 
of the youngest and fairest. She, therefore, could not 
follow her companions when they drew on their plumage 
and flew away ; and being thus in the hunter's power, she 
became his wife. The hero of a story current among 
' the Germans of Transylvania opens, like Hasan, a for- 
' Uurton, " Kighls," vol. viii p, 7. 



I 



SWAK-MAIDENS. 259 

bidden door, and finds three swan-maids bathing ia a 
! pool. Their clothes are contained in satchels on 
its margin, and when he has taken the satchel of the 
youngest he must not look behind until he has reached 
home. This done, he finds the maiden there and 
persuades her to marry him. Mikailo Ivanovich, the 
hero of a popular Russian ballad, wanders by the sea, 
and, gazing out upon a. quiet bay, beholds a white swan 
floating there. He draws his bow to shoot her, but she 
prays him to desist ; and rising over the blue sea upon 
her white wings, she turns into a beautiful maiden. 
Surprised with love, he offers to kiss her ; but she reveals 
herself as a heathen princess and demands first to be 
baptized, and then she will wed him. In a Hessian story 
a forester sees a fair swan floating on a lonely lake. He 
is about to shoot it when it warns him to desist, or it 
will cost him his life. Immediately the swan (vas trans- 
formed into a maiden, who told him she was bewitched, 
but could be freed if he would say a Paternoster for her 
every Sunday for a twelvemonth, and meantime keep 
silence concerning his adventure. The test proved too 

hard, and he lost herJ^ 

The swan, however, by no means monopolizes Ihe 
honour of concealing the heroine's form. In a Finnish 
tale from CEsterbotten, a dead father appears in dreams 
to his three sons, commanding them to watch singly by 
night the geese on the sea-strand. The two elder are so 

' Thorpe, vol. ii. p. 69, quoting Aftelius; Ilnliiich, p. 15; IlapgooiJ, 
p. 214 ; Meier, " Volksmitrchen," p. 39 ; Baring-Gould, p. 575. No 
authority is given by Mr. Baring-Gould, and I have bwn unable to 
iTaee the Hessinn tale ; but I rely on his correctness. He also cites 
an incoherent Swan-maiden tale from Castren, of which he tnanages In 
make more sense than I can (Castren, " Altaischen Viilker," p. 1J2), 
In nn Irish lale Oengus, the son of the Dagda, falls in love, through 
s (ireani, with Caer ib Ormaitb, who is one year in the form of a ^wan 
and the next in human shape. After union with her he seems to 
hate undergone the same alternation of form (RnnK Cellique, vol. iii, 
p. 34a, from a MS. in the British Museum). 



26o 



THE SCIENCE OF 



frightened by th; darkness thit they scamper home. 
But the youngest, despised and dirty, watches boldly, 
till at the first flush of dawn three geese fly thither, 
atrip off' their feafhers, and plunge, as lovely maidens, 
into the water to bathe. Then the youth chooses the 
most beautiful of the three pairs of wings he finds on 
the shore, hides them, and awaits events ; nor does he 
give them up again to the owner until she has betrothed 
herself to him. Elsewhere the damsels are described as 
■ ducks ; but a more common shape is that of do\^es. A 
story is current in Bohemia of a hoy whom a witch leads 
to a spring. Over the spring stands an old elm-tree 
haunted by three white doves, who are enchanted prin- 
cesses. Catching one and plucking out her wings, he 
restores her to her natural condition ; and she brings him 
to his parents, whom he had lost in the sack of the city 
where they dwelt. The Magyars speak of three pigeons 
coming every noontide to a great white lake, where they 
turn somersaults and are transformed into girls. They 
are really fairy-maidens ; and a boy who can steal the 
dress of one of them and run away with it, resisting the 
temptation to look back when she calls in caressing 
tones, succeeds in winning her. In the " Bahar Danush " 
a merchant's son perceives four doves alight at sunset 
by a piece of water, and, resuming their natural form 
(for they are Peries), forthwith undress and plunge into 
the water. He steals their clothes, and thus compels 
the one whom he chooses to accept him as her husband. 
The extravagance characteristic of the " Arabian Nights," 
when, in the story of Janshah, it represents the ladies as 
doves, expands their figures to the size of eagles, with 
far less effect, however, than where they retain more 
moderate dimensions. No better illustration of this can 
he given than the story from South Smaland of the fair 
Castle east of the Sun and north of the Earth, versified so 
exquisitely in " The Earthly Paradise." There a peasant, 
finding that the fine grass of a meadow belonging to him 




was constantly trodden down during the summer nights, 
set his three sons, one after another, to watch for the 
trespassers. The two elder, as usual in these tales, are 
unsuccessful, but the youngest keeps wide awake until 
the sun is about to rise. A rustling in the air, as of 
birds, then heralds the flight of three doves, who cast 
their feathers and become fair maidens. These maidens 
begin to dance on the green grass, and so featly do they 
step that they scarce seem to touch the ground. To the 
watching youth, one among them looked more beautiful 
than all other women ; and he pictured to himself the 
possession of her as more to be longed for than that of 
every other in the world. So he rose and stole their 
plumage, nor did he restore it until the king's daughter, 
the fairest of them all, had phghted her troth to him.' 

The story is by no means conned to Europe and Asia. 
The Arawaks, one of the aboriginal tribes of Guian: 
relate that a beautiful royal vulture was once capturedTiy 
a hunter. She was the daughter of Anuanima, sovereign 
of a race whose country is above the sky, and ivho lay 
aside there the appearance of birds for that of humanity. 
Smitten with love for the hunter, the captive divested 
herself of her feathers and exhibited her true form — 
that of a beautiful girl. "She becomes his wife, bears 
him above the clouds, and, after much trouble, persuades 
her father and family to receive him. AH then goes well, 
until he expresses a wish to visit his aged mother, when 
they discard him, and set him on the top of a very high 
tree, the trunk of which is covered with formidable 
prickles. He appeals pathetically to all the living 
creatures around. Then spiders spin cords to help him, 

' Schreck, p. 35 ; Vernalekun, pp. 274, 287 ; Jones and Kropf, p. 
L 95 : " Babai'Danuiili," vol. ii. p. ZI3 (an abstract of this stury will be 
k found in Keifihlley, p. 20) ; Burton, " Nights," vol. v. p. 344 ; Steere, 
I P- 349> Cavallius, p. 175, freely translalcil by Thorpe, " Yule-tide 
I Stoties,"p. 158. Mr. Morris turns the doi-cs into swans, ty. a South- 
is tale from Vaiaidiiui, Ktauss, vol. i. p. 409, 



/ 



262 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

and fluttering birds ease his descent, so that at last he 
reaches the ground in safety. Then follow his efforts, 
extending over several years, to regain his wife, whom he 
tenderly loves. Her family seek to destroy him ; but 
by his strength and sagacity he is victorious in every 
encounter. The birds at length espouse his cause, 
assemble their forces, and bear him as their commander 
above the sky. He is at last slain by a valiant young 
warrior,' resembling himself in person and features. It 
is his own son, born after his expulsion from the upper 
regions, and brought up there in ignorance of his own 
father. The legend ends with the conflagration of the 
house of the royal vultures, who, hemmed in by crowds 
of hostile birds, are unable to use their wings, and forced 
to fight and die in their human forms." ^ This tale, so 
primitive in form, can hardly have travelled round half 
the globe to the remote American Indians among whom 
it was discovered. And yet in many of its features it 
presents the most striking likeness to several of the 
-vei;sions current in the Old World. 

Sometimes, however, as in the tale of Hasan, the 
species is left undescribed. Among the Eskimo the 
heroine is vaguely referred to as a sea-fowl. The Kurds 
have a strange tale of a bird they call the Bird Simer. 
His daughter has been ensnared by a giant when she and 
three other birds were out flying ; but she is at length 
rescued by two heroes, one of whom she weds. When she 
becomes homesick she puts on her feather-dress and flies 
away.^ 

A Pomeranian saga forms an interesting link between 
the Swan-maiden group and the legends of Enchanted 
Princesses discussed in the last chapter. A huntsman, 
going his rounds in the forest, drew near a pool which 
lies at the foot of the Hiihnerberg. There he saw a girl 

' Brett, ** Legends and Myths," p. 29. This legend is told with 
further details by Im Thurn, p. 381. 
' Rink, p. 145 ; Prym und Socin, p. 51. 



SWAN-MAIDENS, 263 

bathing ; and thinking that she was from the ncighbour- 
villagi;, he picked up her clothes, with the intention 
of playing her a trick. When she saw what he had done, 
she left the water and hastened after him, begging him to 
give back her clothes — or at any rate her shift. He, 
however, was not to ba moved ; and she then told him 
1 enchanted princess, and without her shift she 
could not return. Now he was fully determined not to 
give up the precious article of apparel. She was, there- 
fore, compelled to follow him to his hut, where his mother 
kept house for him. The huntsman there put the shift 
into a chest, of which he took the key, so that the 
maiden could not escape ; and after some time she 
accepted the position, and agreed to become his wife. 
Years passed by, and several children had been born, 
when one day he went out, leaving the key of the chest 
behind. When the heroine saw this she begged her 
mother-in-law to open the chest and show her the shift ; 
for, we are told, the enchanted princess could not herself 
open the trunk. She begged so hard that her mother- 
in-law at last complied ; and no sooner had she got the 
shift into her hands than she vanished out of sight. 
When the husband returned and heard what had hap- 
pened, he made up his mind to seek her. So he climbed 
the Hiihnerberg and let himself down the opening he 
found there. He soon arrived at the underground castle. 
Before its closed gate lay a great black dog, around whose 
neck a paper hung which conveniently contained direc- 
tions how to penetrate into the castle. Following these, 
he presently found himself in the presence of the 
princess, his wife, who was right glad to see him, and 
gave him a glass of wine to strengthen him for the task 
before him ; for at midnight the Evil One would come 
to drive him out of Ihe castle and prevent the lady's 
deliverance. At this point, unfortunately, the reciter's 
memory failed : hence we do not know the details of the 
rescue. But we may conjecturej from the precedents, 



r 



264 THE SCIENCE OF FAIBV TALES. 

that the huntsman had to endure torture. The issu^ 
was that he was successful, the castle ascended out of tb 
earth, and husband and wife were reunited.' 

This story dtfTers in many important respects from thftfl 
.' type ; and it contains the incident, very rare in a moden 
European saga belonging to this group, of the recoveiyj 
of the bride. i-sbaU have occasion to revert to theiT 
curious inability of the enchanted princess to open thcJ 
chest containing the wonderful shift. Meanwhile, let ma J 
observe that in most of the tales the feather-dress, or 
talisman, by which the bride may escape, is committed 
to the care of a third person — usually a kinswoman of 
the husband, and in many cases his mother ; and that the 
wife as a rule only recovers it when it is given to her, < 
at least when that which contains it has been opened by 
another : she seems incapable of finding it herself. 

There is another type of the Swan-maiden myth, | 
which appears to be the favourite of the Latin nations, 
though it is also to be met with among other peoples,.! 
Its outline may, perhaps, best be given from the nursery 1 
tale of the Marquis of the Sun, as told at Seville, The I 
Marquis of the Sun was a great gamester. A maa 1 
played with him and lost all he had, and then staked his J 
soul — and lost it. The Marquis instructed him, if he-J 
desired to recover it, to come to him when he had worn I 
out a pair of iron shoes. In the course of his wanderings J 
he finds a struggle going on over a dead man, whose I 
creditors would not allow him to be burled until his debts 
had been paid. Iron Shoes pays them, and one shoe goes 
to pieces. He afterwards meets a cavalier, who reveals 
himself as the dead man whose debts had been paid, and 
who is desirous of requiting that favour. He therefore 
directs Iron Shoes to the banks of a river where three J 
white doves come, change into princesses, and bathe. I 
Iron Shoes is to take the dress of the smallest, and thus' ] 
get her to tell him whither he has to go. Obeying this ] 
■ Knooji, p. 104. 



SWAN-MAIDENS. 265 

direction, he learns from the princess that the Marquis is 
her father ; and she shows him the way to his castle. 
Arrived there, he demands his soul. Before conceding it 
the Marquis sets him tasks : to level an inconvenient 
mountain, so that the sun may shine on the castle ; to 
sow the site of the mountain with fruit trees, and gather 
the fruit of them in one day for dinner ; to find a piece of 
plate which the Marquis's great-grandfather had dropped 
into the river ; to catch and mount a horse which is no 
other than the Marquis himself ; and to choose a bride 
from among the princesses, his daughters. The damsel 
who had shown Iron Shoes the way to the palace per- 
forms the first two of these tasks : and she teaches him 
how to perform the others. For the third, he has to 
cut her up and cast her into the river, whence she imme- 
diately rises whole again, triumphantly bringing the lost 
piece of plate. In butchering her he has, however, 
clumsily dropped a piece of her little finger on the 
ground. It is accordingly wanting when she rises from 
the river; and this is the token by which Iron Shoes 
recognizes her when he has to choose a bride ; for, in 
choosing, he is only allowed to see the little fingers of 
these candidates for matrimony. He and his bride afler- 
I wards flee from the castle ; but we need not follow their 
adventures now.' 

In stories of this type doves are the shape usually 

assumed by the heroine and her comrades ; but swans 

and geese are often found, and in a Russian tale we are 

even introduced to spoonbills. Nor do the birds I have 

mentioned by any means exhaust the disguises of these 

I supernatural ladies. The stories comprised under this 

and the foregoing type are nearly all miirckcn ; but 

when we come to other types where sagas become more 

I numerous, we find other animais favoured, well-nigh to 

I the exclusion of birds. In the latter types there is no 

I recovery of the wife when she has once abandoned her 

L ' " V. L. Espaii," vol. i. p. 1E7. 



*66 -inj; scip:nce or fairv tales. 

husband. An inhabitant of Unst, one of tlie Shelland 
Islands, behoMs a number of the sea-folk dancing by 
moonhght on the shore of a small bay. Near them lie 
suveral seal-skins. Ho snatches up one, the property, as 
it turns out, of a fair maiden, who thereupon becomes 
his wife. Years after, one of their children finds her 
sealskin, and runs to display it to his mother, not 
knowing it was hers. She puts it on, becomes a sea!, 
and plunges into the waters. In Croatia it is said 
that a soldier once, watching in a haunted mill, saw 
a she-wolf enter, divest herself of her skin, and come 
out of it a damsel. She hangs the skin on a peg and 
goes to sleep before the fire. While she sleeps the soldier 
takes the skin and nails it fast to the mill-wheel, so 
that she cannot recover it. He marries her, and she 
bears him two sons. The elder of these children hears 
that his mother is a wolf. He becomes inquisitive, and 
his father at length tells him where the skin is. When 
he tells his mother, she goes aivay and is heard of no 
more, A Sutherland shire story speaks of a mermaid 
who fell in love with a fisherman. As he did not want 
to be carried away into the sea he, by fair means or foul, 
succeeded in getting hold of her pouch and belt, on 
which her power of swimming depended, and so retained 
her on land ; and she became his bride. But we are not 
surprised to hear that her tail was always in the way; 
her silky hair grew tangled too, for her comb and glass 
were in the pouch ; the dogs teased her, and rude people 
mocked her. Thus her life was made wretched. But one 
day in her husband's absence the labourers were pulling 
down a stack of corn. As she watched them, weeping 
for her lost freedom, she espied her precious pouch and 
hilt, which had been built in and buried among the 
sheaves. She caught it and leaped into the sea.' 

' Keighlley, p. 169, from Hibbctt, ''Description of Ihe Shetland 
Islands" ; Wratislaw, p- 250; "F. L. Journal," vol. vi. p. 165. An a 
point oF resemblance with the Laily of the Van Pool, quoted further 



1 



26; 

In the last tale there is no change of form : the hero 
.imply possesses himself of something without which the 
supernatural maiden has no power to leave him. Even 
in the true Hasan of Bassorah type, the magical change 
does not always occur. A variant translated by Jonathan 
Scott from a Syrian manuscript merely enwraps the 
descending damsels in robes of light green silk. When 
her robe is taken the chosen beauty is kept from following 
her companions in their return flight. Similar to this is 
the Pomeranian saga already cited. In the New Hebrides 
there is a legend of seven winged women whose home 
was in heaven, and who came down to earth to bathe. 
Before bathing, they put off their wings. According to 
the version told in Aurora island, Qatu one day, seeing 
them thus bathing, took the wings of one and buried 



them at the foot of the 
this way he vton their owner 
remained until she found her 
Greece it is believed that Nereii 
their wings, their clothes, 
The Bulgarians, who have 
natural ladies Saniodiva.s ■ 
means of their raiment, 
been cited from various 



of his house. In 
and she so 
In modern 
reidsean be caught by seizing 
ar even their handkerchiefs, 
similar tales, call the super- 
and they are captured by 
i. number of parallels have 
by M, Cosquin, a few of 
which may be mentioned. A Burmese drama, for instance, 
sets before us nine princesses of the city of the Silver 
Mountain, who wear enchanted girdles that enable them 
to ily as swiftly as a bird. The youngest of these princesses 
is caught while bathing, by means of a magical slip-knot. 
A divine ancestress of the Bantiks, a tribe inhabiting the 
Celebes Islands, came down from the sky with seven com- 
panions to bathe. A man who saw them took them for 

on, it may be noled Ihat Iheae seol-women (the legend of Iheir capture 
in [he .Shetland Islands) had the power lo cunjiire up 

from Ihe tleep a superior breed of horned cattle, many of whose off- 
I Bpring ore slill to Ite seen (Di. Karl Blind in " Contemp. Riv." :SEi, 
L quoted by Mac Ritchie, p. 4)- 



\ 



I 



26% THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 

doves, but was surprised to find that they were women, He 
possessed himself of the ciothes of one of them, and thus 
obliged her to marry him. In a story told by the Santals 
of India, the daughters of the sun make use of a spider's 
thread to reach the earth. A shepherd, whom they un- 
blushingly invite to bathe with them, persuades them to 
try which of them all can remain longest under water ; 
and while they are in the river he scrambles out, and, 
taking the upper garment of the one whom he loves, 
flees with it to his home. In another Indian tale, five 
apsaras, or celestial dancers, are conveyed in an enchanted 
car to a pool in the forest. Seven supernatural maidens, 
in a Samoyede miircken, are brought iu their reindeer 
chariot to a lake, where the hero possesses himself of the 
best suit of garments he finds on the shore. The owner 
prays him to give them up ; but he refuses, until he 
obtains a definite pledge of marriage, saying ; " If I give 
thee the garments thou wilt fare up again to heaven." ' 
\ In none of these stories (and they are but samples of 
'many) docs the feather dress occur ; yet it has left rcmi- 
jniscences which are unmistakable. The variants hitherto 
cited have all betrayed these reminiscences as articles of 
clothing, or conveyance, or in the pardonable mistake of 
the Bantik forefather at the time of capture. I shall refer 
presently to cases whence the plumage has faded entirely 
out of the story — and that in spite of its picturesqueness — 
without leaving a trace. But let me first call attention to 
the fact that, even where it is preserved, we often do not 
find it exactly how and where we should have expected 
it. Witness the curious Algonkin tale of "How one of 

■ Kirby, p. 319; "Arch. Rev." vol. ii. p. 90; Schmidt, p. 133; 

Bent, p. 13 ; Von Ilaho, vol. i. p. 295 Iff. vol. ii. p. 82) ; Garaetl, p. 

35a, Iransialing Do^on's "Chansons Populaiies Bulgares"; Cosquin, 

vol. ii. p. 18. Cf. Ralslon, "Tibetan Tales," p. 53; Landes, p. 123; 

Comparetti, lol. L p. 21Z, translated " F. L. Record," vol. ii. p. 12 j 
I Grimm, " Tales," vol. ii. p. 331 ; Pocstion, p. 55 ; Vernaleken, p. 274 ; 
I Ktre, vol. iv. p. i^p ; Sastii, p. Bo. 



swan-MaidenS. 



269 



the Partridge's wives became a Sheldrake Duck." A 
hunter, we are told, returning home in his canoe, saw a 
beautiful girl sitting on a rock by the river, making a 
moccasin. He paddled up softly to capture her ; but she 
jumped into the water and disappeared. Her mother, 
however, who lived at the bottom, compelled her to 
return to the hunter and be his wife. The legend then 
takes a turn in the direction of the Bluebeard myth ; for 
the woman yields to curiosity, and thus deprives her 
husband of his luck. When he finds this out he seizes 
his bow to beat her. " When she saw him seize his bow 
to beat her she ran down to the river, and jumped in to 
escape death at his hands, though it should be by 
drowning. But as she fell into the water she became a 
sheldrake duck." The Passamaquoddies, who relate this 
story, have hardly yet passed out of the stage of thought 
in which no steadfast boundary is set between men and 
the lower animals. The amphibious maiden, who dwelt 
in the bottom of the river, could not be drowned by 
jumping into the stream ; and it is evident that she only 
resumes her true aquatic form in escaping from her 
husband, who, it should be added, is himself called 
Partridge and seems to be regarded as, in fact, a fowl of 
that species. A still more remarkable instance i:i to be 
found among the Welsh of Carnarvonshire, who, it need 
hardly be said, are now on a very different level of civili- 
zation from that of the Passamaquoddies. They tell us 
that when the fairy bride of Corwrion quitted her un- 
lucky husband, she at once flew through the air and 
plunged into the lake ; and one account significantly 
describes her as flying away like a wood-hen. Can it have 
been many generations since she was spoken of as actually 
changing into a bird ? ' 

■ Lelaml, p. 300. Cf. iliiJ. p. 140, whurt; the ni.iidens are calleil 
weasels, and ulliinately marry stars. " V Cymnirodor," vol. iv. p. 201, 
In a lale teiidered from the moiietn Greek liy Von Hnhn ihe name 
Swan-maiden is preserved in the title, though the plumage has disnp- 



270 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

We may now pass to wholly different types of the 
tradition. In all the stories where the magical dress 
appears, whether as a feather-skin, the hide of a 
quadruped, or in the modified form of wings, a robe, 
an apron, a veil or other symbol, the catastrophe is 
brought about by the wife's recovery, usually more or less 
accidental, of the article in question. But it is obvious 
that where the incident of the dress is wanting, the loss 
of the supernatural bride must be brought about by other 
means. In some traditions, the woman's caprice, or the 
fulfilment of her fate, is deemed enough for this purpose ; 
but in the most developed stories it is caused by the 
breach of a taboo. Taboo is a word adopted from the 
Polynesian languages, signifying, first, something set 
apart, thence holy and inviolable, and lastly something 
simply forbidden. It is generally used in English as a 
verb of which the nearest equivalent is another curious 
verb — to boycott. A person or thing tabooed is one 
avoided by express or tacit agreement on the part of any 
class or number of persons ; and to taboo is to avoid in 
pursuance of such an agreement. In Folklore, however, 
the word is used in a different and wider sense. It 
includes every sort of prohibition, from the social or 
religious boycott (if I may use the word), to which it 
would be more properly applied, down to any injunction 
addressed by a supernatural being to the hero or heroine 
of a tale. Folklore students of the anthropological school 
are so apt to refer these last prohibitions for their origin 
to the more general prohibitions of the former kind, that 
perhaps this indiscriminate use of the word may be held 
to beg some of the questions at issue. It is certain, how- 
ever, that the scholars who originally applied it to what I 
may call private prohibitions, had no such thought in 
their minds. They found it a convenient term, applicable 
by no great stretch of its ordinary meaning, and they 

peared from the text. Stress can hardly be laid upon this, as the title 
is no part of tHe tale. Von Ilahn, vol. i. p. 131. 



^^^^^ SVVAN-MAIDLNS. 271 

I appropriated it to the purposes of science. I shall there- 
fore use it without scruple as a well recognized word, 
and without any question-begging intent. 

Having premised so much, I will proceed to set forth 
shortly the balder type of the story, where there is no 
taboo, then the fuller type. Their relations to one 
another will be dealt with in the next chapter. 

I An ASgonkin legend relates that a hunter beheld a 
basket descend from heaven, containing twelve young 
maidens of ravishing beauty. He attempted to approach, 
but on perceiving him they quickly re-entered the basket 
and were drawn up again out of his sight. Another day, 
however, he succeeded, by disguising himself as a mouse, 
in capturing the youngest of the damsels, whom he 
married and by whom he had a son. But nothing could 
console his wife for the society of her sisters, which she 
had lost. So one day she made a small basket ; and 

I having entered it with her child she sang the charm 
she and her sisters had formerly used, and ascended once 
more to the star from whence she had come. It is added 
that when two years had elapsed the star said to his 
daughter : " Thy son wants to see his father ; go down, 

I therefore, to the earth and fetch thy husband, and tel! 
him to bring us specimens of all the animals he kills." 

I This was done. The hunter ascended with his wife to 
the sky ; and there a great feast was given, in which the 
animals he brouglit were served up. Those of the guests 
who took the paws or the tails were transformed into 

I animals. The hunter himself took a white feather, and 
with his wife and child was metamorphosed into a 
falcon." I will only now remark on the latter part of 
the tale that it is told by the same race as the Sheldrake 
Duck's adventures ; and if we deem it probable that the 

I ■ " La Tmililiuii," March 1SS9. p. 7S, quoling llie AbW Donienecli, 
I "Voyage pitlotesque dans les d&etls du Nouveau Monde," p. 214. 
I Mr. Farrer gives the same slory from " Algic Researches " (F'arrer, 
L " Ptimillve Manners," p. 356). 



271 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES, 

heroine of that narrative simply resumed her pristine 
form in becoming a duck, the same leasoning will hold 
good as to the falcons here. This type of the myth 
may call the " Star's Daughter type." 

The other type may be named after Melusina, 
famous Countess of Lusignan. The earliest writer 
mention the legend which afterwards became identified 
with her name, was Gervase of Tilbury, who relates that 
Raymond, the lord of a certain castle a few miles from 
Aix in Provence, riding alone on the banks of the r 
unexpectedly met an unknown lady of rare beauty, 
alone, riding on a splendidly caparisoned palfrey. On, 
his saluting her she replied, addressing him by name.. 
Astonished at this, but encouraged, he made irapropCTJ 
overtures to her ; to which she declined to assent,, 
intimating, however, in the most unabashed way, that 
she would marry him if he liked. He agreed to this ; 
but the lady imposed a further condition, namely, that 
he should never see her naked ; for if once he did so, 
all the prosperity and all the happiness with which he 
was about to be blessed would depart, and he would 
be left to drag out the rest of his life in wretchedness. 
On these terms they were married ; and every earthlj 
felicity followed, — wealth, renown, bodily strength, tJ 
love of his fellow-men, and children — boys and girls — ol 
the greatest beauty. But one day his lady was bathing 
in the bedroom, when he came iu from hunting and 
fowling, laden with partridges and other game. While 
food was being prepared the thought struck him that 
he would go and see her in her bath. So many years 
had he enjoyed unalloyed prosperity that, if there ever 
were any force in her threat, he deemed it had long 
since passed away. Deaf to his wife's pleadings, he tore 
away the curtain from the bath and beheld her naked ; 
but only for an instant, for she was forthwith changed 
into a serpent, and, putting her head under the watefj 
she disappeared. Nor ever was she seen again ; bi 



1 

ne 
jld 

th^H 



I 






SWAN-MAIDENS. 273 

sometimes in the darkness of night the nurses would 
hear her busy >vith a mother's care for her little children. 
Gervase adds. that one of her daughters was married to 
a. relative of his own belonging to a noble family of 
Provence, and her descendants were living at the lime 
he wrote.' 

The story, as told of Mdusina, was amplified, but in its 
substance differed little from the foregoing. Melusina 
does not forbid her husband to see her naked, but bar- 
gains for absolute privacy on Saturdays. When Ray- 
mond violates this covenant he finds her in her bath 
with her lower extremities changed into a serpent's tail. 
The lady appears to be unconscious of her hiisband's dis- 
covery ; and nothing happens until, in a paroxysm of anger 
and grief, arising from the murder of one of his children 
by another, he cries out upon her as an odious serpent, 
the contaminator of his race. It will be remembered 
that in the Esthonian tale cited in Chapter VIII the 
youth is forbidden to call his mistress mermaid ; and all 
goes well until he peeps into the locked chamber, where 
she passes her Thursdays, and finds her in mermaid form. 
Far away in Japan we learn that the hero Hohodemi 
wedded Toyotamahime, a daughter of the Sea-god, and 
built a house for her on the strand where she might give 
birth to her child. She strictly forbade him to come 
near until the happy event was over : he was to remain 
in his own dwelling, and on no account to attempt to see 
her until she sent for him. His curiosity, howe\-er, was 
too much for his happiness. He peeped, and saw his wife 
writhing to and fro on the floor in the shape of a dragon. 
He started back, shocked ; and when, later on, Toyota- 
mahime called him to her, she saw by his countenance 
that he had discovered the secret she had thought to 
hide from all mankind. In spite of hi^ entreaties she 
plunged into the sea, never more to see her lord. Her 
boy, notwithstanding, was still the object of her care. 
' Ger». Tilb. Dec. i. c. IS- 



THE saCKCG or FAIRY TALES. 



In IH 



»74 

She sent her sister to waich over him, and he grew 
become the biher of the firK Emperor of Japan, 
Maori tale the hero loses his wife through prematurely' 
tearing down a screen he had erected for her convenience 
on a similar occasion, A Moravian tale speaks of a bride 
who »huts herself up every eighth day, and when her 
husband looks through the keyhole, he beholds her 
thighs clad with hair and her fi-et those of goats. This 
is a marchen ; and in the end, ha\'ing paid the penalty, 
of his rashness by undergoing adventures like those 
Hasan, the hero regains his love. A Tirolese marcht 
tells us of a witch who, in the shape of a beautiful gir] 
took ser\-ice with a rich man and made a conquest of 
son. She wedded him on condition that he would i 
look upon her by candlelight. The youth, like a m 
line Psyche, breaks the taboo ; and a drop of the w 
falling on her cheek, awakens her. It was in vain that 
blew out the taper and lay down. When he awoke ii 
the morning she was gone ; but a pair of shoes with in 
soles stood by the bed, with a paper directing him 
seek her till the soles were worn out, and then he shoul 
find her again. By the aid of a mantle of invisibilit 
and a chair which bote him where he wished, he arrived 
in the nick of lime to prevent her marriage with another 
bridegroom. The proper reconciliation follows, and her 
true husband bears her home in triumph. Not so happy 
was the hero of a Corsican saga, who insisted on seeing 
his wife's naked shoulder and found it nothing but 
bones — the skeleton of their love which he had thia^ 
murdered.' > 

At the foot of the steep grassy cliffs of the Van Moun-' 
tains in Carmarthenshire lies a lonely pool, called Llyn y 
Fan Fach, which is the scene of a \'ariant of Melusina, 
less celebrated, indeed, but equally romantic and far more 
beautiful. 



Schneller, \ 



:gend may s 
, p. 13S i \\Tiiie, vol. ii 



; lips ( 
141 ; VeinaleUen, p. 39t,3 




275 

the peasantry ; and more than one version has found its 
way into print. The most complete was written down by 
Mr. William Rees, of Tonn (a well-known Welsh anti- 
quary and publisher), from the oral recitation of two old 
ind a woman, natives of Myddfai, where the hero 
of the story is said to have dwelt. Stated shortly, the 
legend is to the following effect : The son of a widow 
who lived at Elaensawdde, a little village about three- 
quarters of a mile from the pool, was one day tending his 
mother's cattle upon its shore when, to his astonishment, 
he beheld the Lady of the Lake sitting upon its unruffled 
surface, which she used as a mirror while she combed out 
her graceful ringlets. She imperceptibly glided nearer to 
him, but eluded his grasp and refused the bait of barley 
bread and cheese that he held out to her, saying as she 
dived and disappeared : 

" Craadji f;im ; 
Nid hawdd fy nalal" 
(" Haid-baked is thy bread ; 
It is not easy to catch me ! ") 

An offer of unbaked dough, or toes, the next day was 
equally unsuccessful. She exclaimed : 

" Llailh dy fara I 
Ti ni fyntia'." 
(" Unbaked is thy bread 1 
I will not have Ihec") 

But the slightly baked bread, which the youth subse- 
quently took, by his mother's advice, was accepted : he 
seized the lady's hand and persuaded her to become his 
bride. Diving into the lake she then fetched her father 
— " a hoary-headed man of noble mien and extraordinary 
stature, but having otherwise all the force and strength 
of youth "—who rose from the depths with two ladies and 
was ready to consent to the match, provided the young 
I man could distinguish which of the two ladies before him 



r 



TUB SaESCE OF I 



276 

was the object of his affeciions. This was no small test 
of love, inasmuch as the maidens were exactly ahke 
form and features. One of them, however, thrust her 
foot a little forward ; and the hero recognized a peculiarity 
of her shoctie, irhich he had somehow had leisure to 
notice at his previous interviews. The father admits the . 
correctness of his choice, and bestows a dowry of sheep, | 
cattle, goats, and horses, but stipulates in the most J 
business-hke way that these animals shall return with I 
the bride, if at any time her husband prove unkind and I 
strike her thrice without a cause. I 

So far Mr. Rees' version. A version published in the J 
"Cambro-Briton"is somewhat different. Three beautiful .1 
damsels appear from the pool, and are repeatedly pursued J 
by the young farmer, but in vain. They always reached J 
the water before him and taunted him with the couplet : .1 

Anhnudd ein (lab ! " I 

One day some moist bread from the lake came floating ■■ 
ashore. The youth seized and devoured it; and the J 
following day he was successful in catching the ladies. I 
The one to whom he offers marriage consents on the I 
understanding that he will recognize her the next day I 
from among the three sisters. He does so by the strap- I 
ping of her sandal ; and she is accompanied to her new I 
home by seven cows, two o.^en, and a bull from the lake. J 
A third version presents the maiden as rowing on New I 
Year's Eve up and down the lake in a golden boat with 1 
a golden oar. She disappears from the hero's gaze, with- I 
out replying to his adjurations. Counselled by a sooth- I 
sayer, who dwells on the mountain, he casts loaves and I 
cheese night after night from Midsummer Eve to New 1 
Year's Eve into the water, until at length the magic skiff J 
again appears, and the fairy, stepping ashore, weds hsfM 
persistent wooer, _^B 



test ^H 
in ^^H 



^^^m SWAN-MAIDENS. 277 

In all three versions the bridegroom is forbidden to 

strike "three causeless blows." Of course he disobeys. 

According to the " Cambro-Briton " version it happened 

that one day, preparing for a fair, he desired his wife to 

go to the field for his horse. Finding her dilatory in 

doing so, he tapped her arm thrice with his glove, saying, 

half in jest : " Go, go, go ! " The blows were slight, but 

they were blows ; and, the terms of the marriage contract 

being broken, the dame departed — she and her cattle with 

her — ^back into the lake. The other two accounts agree 

in spreading the blows over a much greater length of 

time. Mr. Rees' version relates that once the husband and 

wife were invited to a christening in the neighbourhood. 

I The lady, however, seemed reluctant to go, making the 

feminine excuse that the distance was too far to walk. 

Her husband told her to fetch one of the horses from the 

field. "I will," said she, "if you will bring me my 

gloves, which I left in the house." He went, and, 

returning with the gloves, found that she had not gone 

for the horse, so he jocularly slapped her shoulder with 

one of the gloves, saying : " Go, go ! " Whereupon she 

i reminded him of the condition that he was not to strike 

her without a cause, and warned him to be more careful 

in future. Another time, when they were together at a 

wedding, she burst out sobbing amid the joy and mirth 

of all around her. Her husband touched her on the 

shoulder and inquired the cause of her weeping. She 

replied ; " Now people are entering into trouble ; and 

I your troubles are likely to commence, as you have the 

L second time stricken me without a cause." Finding how 

very wide an interpretation she put upon the " causeless 

blows," the unfortunate husband did his best to avoid 

anything which could give occasion for the third and last 

I blow. But one day they were together at a funeral, 

I where, in the midst of the grief, she appeared in the 

[ highest spirits and indulged in immoderate fits of 

L laughter. Her husband was so shocked that he touched 



I 



ayS THE SCIENCE OK KAIHV TALES. 

her, saying : " Hush, hush ! don't laugh ! " She retorti 
that she laughed " because people, wheu they die, go outi 
of trouble"; and, risiug up, she left the house, exclaim- 
ing ; " The last blow has been struck ; our marriage 
contract is broken, and at an end ! Farewell ! " Hurry- 
ing home, she called together all her fairy cattle, walked 
off with them to the lake, and vanished in its waters, 
Even a little black calf, slaughtered and suspended on] 
the hook, descended alive and well again to obey hifti 
mistress' summons ; and four grey oxen, which 
ploughing, dragged the plough behind them as thi 
went, leaving a well-marked furrow, that remains to 
day "to witness if I lie." The remaining version, with! 
some differences of detail, represents tlje same ecccntri 
pessimism on the lady's part (presumably attributable t( 
the greater spiritual insight of her supernatural character), 
as the cause of the husband's not unwarranted annoyance! 
and of his breach of the agreement. She had borne hii 
three fair sons ; and although she had quitted her husband 
for ever, she continued to manifest herself occasionally to 
them, and gave them instruction in herbs and medicine, 
predicting that they and their issue would become during 
many generations the most renowned physicians 
country.' 

Such is the legend of the Van Pool. It has a number 
of variants, both in Wales and elsewhere, Che examination 
of which I postpone for the present. Hitherto I have 
been guided in the mention of variants of this myth 
chiefly by the desire of showing how one type insensibly 
merges into another. The only type I have now left foi" 
examination may be called the " Nightmare type." It i^ 

' " The Physicians of Myddvai— Mciidygon Myddfai," translated b 
John Pughe, Esq., F,R.C,S,, ami edited liy Rev. John Williams a 
Ithel, M.A. (IS60, p. xxi. ■■Cambro-Briton," VD 
Sikes, p. 40, Mr. Sikes gives no authority for the third versioD, 
have assumed its genuineness, though I confess Mr. .Sikes' methods k. 
not such as lo inspire conlidence. 



1 



ber^l 



^^^^ SWAN-MAIDENS. 279 

allied not so much to the stories of Melusina and the 
Lady of the Van Pool as to stories like that of the 
Croatian wolf- ma i J en. According to German and 
Slavonic beUef the nightmare is a human being — fre- 
quently one whose love has been slighted, and who in 
this shape is enabled to approach the beloved object. It 
slips through the keyhole, or any other hole in a building, 
and presses its victim sometimes to death. But it can be 
caught by quickly stopping the hole through which it 
has entered. A certain man did so one night ; and in the 
morning he found a young and lovely maiden in the 
room. On asking her whence she came, she told him 
from Engelland (angel-land, England). He hid her 
clothes, married her, and had by her three children. 
The only thing peculiar about her was that she used con- 
stantly to sing while spinning : 

" Now calls my iiiulhot {or, blowi my fulhcr) in 
Engelland, 

M.iry Calharinc, 
Drive oul thy swine." 

One day her husband came home and found that his wife 
had been telling the children that she had come as a night- 
mare from Engelland. When he reproached her for it, 
she went to the cupboard where her clothes wurL' hidden, 
threw them over herself, and vanished. Yet she could 
not quite forsake hc-r husband and little ones. On Satur- 
days she came unseen and laid out their clean clothes ; 
and every night she appeared while others slept, and 
taking the baby out of the cradle quieted it at her breast. 
The allusion to the nightmare's clothes is uncommon ; 
but it is an unmistakable link with the types we have 
been considering. In other tales she is caught in the 
shape of a straw ; and she is generally released by taking 
the stopper out of the hole whereby she entered. The 
account she gives of herself is that she has come out of 
England, that the pastor had been guilty of some 



28o THE SCIENCE OK FATRV TALES. I 

omission in the service when she was baptized, and 
hence she became a nightmare, but to be re-christened 
would cure her. She often hears her mother call her. 
In one story she vanished on being reproached with her 
origin, and in another on being asked hoiv she became a 
nightmare.' 

An Esthonian tale speaks of a father who found his 
little boy one night in an unquiet slumber. He noticed 
over the bed a hole in the wall through which the wind 
was whistling, and thought it was this which was dis- 
turbing him. Wherefore he slopped it up ; and no 
sooner had he done so than he saw on the bed by the 
boy's side a pretty little girl, who teased and played with 
him so that he could not sleep in peace. The child was 
thus forced to stay in the house. She grew up with the 
other children, and being quick and industrious was 
beloved by all. Specially was she dear to the boy in 
whose bed she was found ; and when lie grew up he 
married her. One Sunday in church she burst out 
laughing during the sermon. After the service was 
over the husband inquired what she was laughing at. 
She refused to tell him, save on condition of his telling 
her in return how she came into his father's bouse. 
When she had extracted this promise from him, she told 
him she saw stretched on the wall of the church a great 
horse-skin, on which the Evil One was writing the 
names of all those who slept or chattered in church, and 
paid no heed to God's word. The skin was at last full 

' John, p. 364. cl scqi/. ; Knoop, pp. 26, 83, 103 ; Kuhn, pp. 47, 197, 

374 ; Kuhn und Schwartz, pp. 14, gi, 298 ; Schleicher, p. 93 ; ThoTpe, ' 

vol. ii. p. 169, quoling Thicle. Nole the suggestion of Pope Gregoiy's . 

pun in the name of the native lund of the nightmare. Elsewhere a I 

child beconie^ a niglilmare who 19 born on a Sunilay and baptized on a 1 

Sunday at the same hour, or one at whose liaplisni some wicked person J 

has secretly muttered in response to one of the priest's questions some I 

wrong words, or " It shall become a nightmare " (Lemke, p. 42). | 
Similajr superstitions attached to somnabulisin ; see Lecky, " 1 tislory ol 

Rationalism," vol. i. p. 81, note 3. 1 



I 



SWAN-MAIDENS. aSl 

of names ; and in order to find room for more the Devil 
had to pull it with his teeth, so as to stretch it further. 
In so doing he bumped his head against the wall, and 
made a wry face ; whereat she, who saw it, laughed. 
When they got home her husband pulled out the piece 
of wood which his father had put into the hole ; and the 
; instant his wife was gone. The husband was dis- 
consolate, but he saw her no more. It wa.s said, how- 
ever, that she often appeared to his two children in 
secret, and brought them precious gifts. In Smaland a 
parallel legend is current, according to which the 
ancestress of a certain family was an elf-maid who came 
into the house with the sunbeams through a knot-hole in 
the wall, and, after being married to the son and bearing 
him four children, vanished the same way as she had 
come. In North Germany it is believed that when 
seven boys, or seven girls, are born in succession, one 
among them is a nightmare. A man who had un- 
knowingly wedded such a nightmare found that she 
disappeared from his bed at nights ; and on watching 
her he discovered that she slipped through the hole for 
the strap by which the latch was lifted, i-eturning the 
same way. So he stopped up the opening, and thus 
always retained her. After a considerable time he 
wanted to use the latch, and thinking she had forgotten 
her bad habit and he might safely take the peg out, he 
did so ; but the next night she was missing, and never 
came back, though every Sunday morning the man 
found clean linen laid out for him as usual.' 

A Pomeranian tradition relates the adventure of an 
officer who was much troubled by the nightmare. He 
caught her in the usual manner and wedded her, although 
he could not persuade her to say whence she came. After 
some years she induced her husband to open the holes he 

' Jannsen, vol. i. p, 53 ; Thorpe, vol. iii. p. 70, quoting Afielius, 
vol ii. p. 29, quoting MilllenhofT. It is a coiiimon Teutonic belief 
that knot-holes arc attributable to elves (tirimm, ■' Teul. Myth." p. 461). 



282 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

had stopped up ; and the next morning she had dis- 
appeared. But he found written in chalk on the table 
the words : " If thou wilt seek me, the Commander of 
London is my father." He sought her in London and 
found her ; and having taken the precaution to rechristen 
her he lived happily with her ever after.' This is the 
only instance I have met with where the nightmare-wife 
is recovered. It would be interesting to know why 
England is assigned as the home of these perturbed 
spirits. 

' "Am UrdS'Brunnen," vol. vi. p. 58. 



CHAPTER XL 



SWAJi-siAiDKNS (continued). 

The incident of the recuvery of Ihe bride not found in all ihe stories — 
New Zealand sagas — Andrian6ro— Mother- right — The father repre- 
sented under 3. forbidding aspect- — Tasl^ imposed nn the hero — 
The Buddhist theory of the Grateful Animals — The feather-robe 
a symbol of bride's superhuman character— Mode of capture — The 
Taboo — Dislilte of fairies for iron — Utterance of name forbidden — 
Other proiiibitions— Fulfilment of fale — The taboo a mark of 
prt^ess in civiliialion— The diiine ancestress — Tolems anil 
Banshees — Re-appearance of mother lo her children —The lady 
of the Van Pool a.n archaic deity. 

I HOPE I have made clear in the last chapter the con- 
nection between the various types of the Swan-maiden 
group of folk-tales. The one idea running through them 
all is that of a man wedding a supernatural maiden and 
unable to retain her. She must return to her own 
country and her own kin ; and if he desire to recover her 
he must pLirsue her thither and conquer his right to 
her by undergoing superhuman penaucc or performing 
superhuman tasks, — neither of which it is given to 
ordinary men to do. It follows that only when the story 
is told of men who can be conceived as released from the 
limitations we have been gradually learning during the 
progress of civilization to regard as essential to humanity- 
only when the reins are laid upon the neck of invention, — 
is it possible to relate the narrative of the recovery of the 
bride. These conditions are twice fulfilled in the history 
of a folk-tale. They are fulfilled, first, when men are in 
that early stage of thought in which the limitations of 



r 



284 THE SCIENCE OF FAiRV TALHS. j 

man's nature are unknown, when speculations of the 
kind touched upon in our second chapter, and illustrated 
repeatedly in the course of this work, are received as 
undisputed opinions. They are fulfilled again when 
the relics of these opinions, and the memories of the 
mythical events helieved in accordance with such 
opinions, are stili operative in the mind, though no 
longer with the vividness of primitive limes ; when some 
of them still hold together, but for the most part they 
are decaying and falling to pieces, and are only like the 
faded rags of a once splendid robe which a child may 
gather round its puny form and make believe for the 
moment that it is a king. To the genuine credulity of 
the South-Sea Islander, and to the conscious make- 
believe of the Arab story-teller and the peasant who | 
repeats the modern mdrcheti, all things are possible. 
But to the same peasant when relating the traditional 
histories of his neighbours, and to the grave mediaeval 
chronicler, only some things are possible, though many . 
more things than are possible to us. The slow and 
partial advance of knowledge destroys some superstitions 
sooner, others later. Some branches of the tree of 1 
marvel flourish with apparently unimpaired hfe long 
after others have withered, and others again have only 
begun to fade. Hence, where the adventures of Tawhaki, 
the mythical New Zealander, are incredible, the legend of 
the origin of the Physicians of Myddfai from the Lady \ 
of the Lake may still be gravely accepted. Gervase of ' 
Tilbury would probably have treated the wild story of 
Hasan's adventures in the islands of Wak as what it is ; 
but he tells us he has seen and conversed with women 
who had been captives to the Dracs beneath the waters of 
the Rhone, while a relative of his own had married a 
genuine descendant of the serpent-lady of that castle in 
the valley of Trets. . 

Accordingly, the episode of the recovery of the bride is- J 
scarcely ever found in the sagas of modem Europe, or 1 



^^■^ SWAN-MAIDENS. 3^5 

indeed of any nation that has progressed beyond a certain 
mark in civilization. But it is common in their tnarchtti, 
as well as in the sagas of more backward nations. In the 
sagas of the advanced races, with rare exceptions, the most 
we get is what looks like a reminiscence of the episode in 
the occasional reappearance of the supernatural wife to 
her children, or as a Banshee, Putting this reminiscence, 
if it be one, aside for the present, we will first discuss 
some aspects of the bride's recovery. In doing so, 
though the natural order may seem to be inverted, we 
shall in effect clear the ground for the proper under- 
standing of the main features of the myth. 

Many variants of the legend of Tawhaki are current 
- among the Maories. According to that adopted by Sir 
George Grey, he was a hero renowned for his courage, 
ivhose fame had reached to heaven. There Tango-tango, 
a maiden of heavenly race, fell in love with him from 
report j and one night she descended to the earth and lay 
down by his side. She continued to do this nightly, 
stealing away again before dawn to her home. But 
when she found herself Hkcly to become a mother she 
remained with him openly ; and when her daughter was 
born she gave her to her husband to wash. Evidently 
he did not like the work, for while carrying out his wife's 
instructions, Tawhaki made a very rude remark about 
the child. Hearing this, Tango-tango began to sob 
bitterly, and at last rose up from hi;r place with the 
child and took flight to the sky. Her husband de- 
termined to seek her. He found his way to the place 
where a creeper hung down from heaven and struck its 
roots into the earth. It was guarded there by a blind 
old ancestress of his, whom he restored to sight, and 
from whom he obtained directions how to chmb the 
plant. Arrived in heaven, he disguised himself and had 
to undergo the indignity — he, a mighty chieftain — of 
being enslaved by his wife's relatives, for whom he was 
compelled to perform menial work. At length, however, 



1 



386 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 



he manifested himself to his wife and was reconciled to 
her. He is still in heaven, and is worshipped as a god. 
Another version represents a cloud swooping upon the 
wife and taking her away, Tawhaki endeavoured in 
vain to follow her by mounting on a kite. A third 
version simply relates that the lady returned to her 
friends. Her husband, on arriving at the pa, or settle- , 
ment, where she dwelt, found among the children his 
own son, by whom he sent his wife a love-token she had 
formerly given him. This led to recognition, and she 
eventually returned with him to his home. A more 
interesting variant tells us that the fame of the nobleness I 
of Tini-rau was heard by Hine-te-iwaiwa, who determined ■ 
to set her cap (or whatever might be its equivalent in her ' 
scanty costume) at him. She obtained an interview with \ 
him, by a device recalling the conduct of the ladie 
The Land East of the Sun, for she broke and destroyed i 
some bathing-pools belonging to the hero. A quest of J 
the intruder naturally followed, with the result that | 
Tini-rau Cook her to live with him. She made short 
work of her rivals, his elder wives ; and all went 
smoothly until Hine, one unlucky day, asked her | 
husband to perform an operation upon her head ; 
necessary as familiar in some strata of civilization. 1 
doing this he made disrespectful observations about her, 
when lo ! a mist settled down upon them, from the midst J 
of which her elder brother came and took his sister away, j 
Tini-rau, unable to endure her absence, determined to go j 
after his wife, accompanied by a flight of birds, by whose I 
cries he was informed, as he passed one settlement after ] 
another, whether or not his wife was there. At length I 
he discovered her whereabouts, and made himself known i 
to her sister by a token which Hine understood. Then / 
he came to her, and she announced his arrival to all the I 
people, who assembled and welcomed him. He abode i 
there ; and when his wife's relatives complained that 1 
did not go and get food, he obtained it in abundance bx. 



^^^B SWAN-MAIDE^S. 287 

the exercise of magical powers ; and so they hved happy 
ever after.' 

Now let us turn to the Malagasy tale of the way in 
which Andrianoro ohtained a wife from heaven. There 
three sisters, whose dwelling-place is in heaven, frequent 
a lake in the crystal waters whereof they swim, taking 
flight at once on the approach of any human being. By 
a diviner's advice the hero changes into three lemons, 
which the youngest sister desires to take ; but the others, 
fearing a snare, persuade her to fly away with them. 
Foiled thus, the hero changes into bluish water in the 
midst of the lake, then into the seed of a vegetable 
growing by the waterside, and ultimately into an ant. 
He is at length successful in seizing the youngest maiden, 
who consents to be his wife in spite of the difference of 
race ; for, while her captor is a man living on the earth, 
her father dwells in heaven, whence the thunderbolt 
darts forth if he speak, and she herself drinks no spirits, 
" for if spirits even touch my mouth I die." After some 
time, during his absence, his father and mother force 
tbaka, or rum, into the lady's mouth, and she dies ; but 
on his return he insists on opening her grave, and, to his 
joy, finds her alive again. But she will not now stay on 
earth : she must return to her father and mother in the 
sky. They are grieving for her, and the thunder is a 
sign of their grief. Finding himself unable to prevail 
upon her to stay, he obtains permission to accompany 
her. She warns him, however, of the dangers he will 
have to encounter, — the thunderbolt when her father 
speaks, and the tasks her father will lay upon him. 
Before he goes he accordingly calls the beasts and the 
birds together ; he slays oxen to feed them ; he tells them 
the tests he is about to undergo, and takes promises 
from them to accomplish the things that trouble him. 
Obedient to his wife, he displays great humility to his 

' Grey, p. 66; Taylor, p. 138 ; While, vol. i. pp. 95, 115, il uqq., 
. vol. u. p. 127, el seqq. 



283 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 



father-in-law ; and by the aid of the lower animals he| 
comes triumphant out of every trial. The beasts wi 
their tusks plough up the spacious fields of heaven ; the I 
beasts and birds uproot the giant trees ; from the | 
Crocodile Lake the crocodiles themselves bring the! 
thousand spades ; between cattle which are exactly 1 
alike the cattle-fly distinguishes the cows from thel 
calves ; and tlie little fly, settling on the nose of the* 
heroine's mother, enables the hero to point her out among- J 
her daughters. The wife's father is astonished," and gives m 
his daughter anew to the hero to be his wife, dismissing I 
them with a dower of oxen, slaves and money.' 

It will be observed that the adventures undergone by I 
Andrianiro in heaven are very diffurent from those irf 1 
the Maori heroes. Tawhaki and Tini-rau have certainly I 
to submit to hardships and indignities before they can be 1 
reunited to their wives ; and they perform actions erf I 
superhuman power. But these actions arc not perfonned f 
as the condition of reunion ; nor are the tasks and the 
indignities laid upon them by any parental ogre. In fact 
the parental ogre is as conspicuous by his absence from 
the New Zealand stories as he is by his presence in those . 
of Andrianoro and the Marquis of the Sun. How is ■ 
this to be explained? The reason seems to lie in the* 
different organization of society under which the tale^l 
attained its present form in either case. At an earlyB 
period of civilization, kinship is reckoned exclusivelyB 
through the mother ; even the father is iu no wayfl 
related to his children. This is a stage hardly ever fl 
found complete in all its consequences, but of which the 1 
traces remain iu the customs and in the lore of many I 
nations who have long since passed from it, becoming, a3 I 
we might expect, fainter and fewer as it recedes into the I 
distance. Such traces are abundant in Maori tradition ; I 
and they point to a comparatively recent emergence from I 
' " F. L. Journnl," yiA. i. p. 202 ; " Revue (ics Tmtl. Pop." vol, iv. I 
P- 305- J 



^^^B SWAN-MAIDENS. sSg 

ft:ma!e kinship. Among these traces is the omissiun of 
the heavy father from the stories before us. Tango- 
tango and Hine-te-iwaiwa were both maidens of more 
than mortal race ; and presumably their parents would 
be conceived of as still alive. But they are not so much 
as alluded to — a sure sign that there was no paternal 
authority to which these ladies would be accountable. 
Indeed, if accountable ^t all, they are so to the whole 
circle of their relatives, or to their tribe in genera!. It 
is llieir brothers who assist them in time of need. 
Tawhaki becomes the slave of his brothers-in-law. To 
her " people " Hine announces her husband's arrival : 
she simply announces it ; nor does it appear that any 
consent on their part is required. Tini-rau takes his 
place at once as a tribesman, and is expected to con- 
tribute by his labour and skill to the sustenance of the 
whole brotherhood. 

One of the consequences of reckoning descefit only 
through females, which may be noticed here, is that the 
chiidren belong to the mother and the mother's family, 
A trace of this lingers about the story of Tawhaki in the 
affront to Tango-tango caused by her husband's offensive 
remark upon their little one. In a society where the 
offspring are the father's, or even where, as in modern 
civilized life, they are treated as belonging to both 
parents and partaking of the nature of both, no such 
offence could be taken. Another consequence is that in 
the organization of society the wife still continues after 
marriage to reside with, and to be part of, the community 
to which she belongs by birth. The man leaves his 
father and his mother and cleaves to his wife. Hence it 
would be natural for her to return home to her own 
kindred, and for him to seek her and dwell with her 
there. This is illustrated not only in the Maori legends 
just cited, but also in the Arawak story given in the last 
chapter, where the husband is received into the vulture 
face until he desires to visit his mother. He is then 



290 THK SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 

discarded as if he liad committed some unpardonable J 
breach of custom ; and he cannot be restored to his 
former privileges. Although the Greeks had before the I 
dawn of history ceased to practise mother- right, a trace | 
of it lingers in a modern folktale from Epirus. There i 
man had by the ordinary de\-ice obtained an elf as a wife ; 
and she bore him a child. After this her own kins- I 
men came and begged her to return to them ; but she ] 
refused on the ground that she had a husband and child. 
" Then bring them with you," thfv replied. Accordingly, 
she took her husband and child, and went back with them 
to dwell among the elves. It seems, however, to be felt 
that this was an unusual proceeding ; otherwise it would 
have been needless to plead with the lady to return, and j 
to extend a special invitation to those whom she would I 
not abandon : an indication, this, that the story has been I 
adapted to a higher plane of civilization, in which it h 
no longer the custom for the husband to go and dwell | 
among his wife's people.' 

On the other hand, Andrianoro's wife lives under I 
patriarchal government. The Malagasy have advanced 1 
further on the path of civihzaCion than the Maories ; and j 
at the stage of progress they have reached, the father is J 
much more like an absolute monarch. In the story j 

' Von Hahn, vol. ii. p. 7S. In illuslrnlion of ihese remarks o 
marital relalions in a society where female kinship only is recogniied, I 
let me quote the following paragraph c^mccrning Maori customs. The I 
Maoties, it must be borne in mint], hare only reccnlly emerged from 
this stage ; and many relics of il remain. 

"Sometimes the father simply told his intended son-in-law he might 
come and live with his daughter; she was thenceforth considered hb 
wife, he lived with his father-in-law, and became one of (he tribe, or 
Aafiu, to which bis wile belonged, and in case of war, was often obliged 
to fight against his own relatives. So common is the custom of the 
bridegroom going to live with his wife's family, that it frequently 
occurs, when he refuses to <io 50, she will leave him, and go lack to 
her relatives ; several inslances came under my notice where young J 
men have tried lo bi'calt Ihroush ihis cist'in, ani hi.ve so lost theii J 



SWAN-MAIUENS. 291 

referred to, the laHy had married without her father's 
consent. Accordingly her marriage is ignored, and her 
lover has to perform a number of services for his father- 
in-law, and so purchase formal consent to their union. 
Nor will it escape the reader that when the wielder of 
the thunderbolt at last gives his daughter to her husband, 
he dismisses them back to the home of the latter. 
Hasan, too, it will bs remembered, returns to Bagdad 
■ with his wife and children, though we probably have a 
survival of an older forni of the story in his relations 
with her redoubtable sister. This lady holds a position 
impossible in an Arab kingdom. Her father is a mere 
shadow, hardly mentioned but to save appearances ; 
so much more substantial is her power and her opposi- 
tion to the match. The variants of the Marquis of the 
Sun are found chiefly among European nations,' whose 
history, institutions, and habits of thought lead them to 
attach great value to paternal authority. In the tasks 
performed in mdrchen of this type, and the precipitate 
flight which usually takes place on the wedding night 
from the ogre's secret wrath, it would seem that *ve have 
a reminiscence of the archaic institutions of marriage by 
purchase and marriage by capture, — both alike incidents 
of the period when mother-right (as the reckoning of 
descent solely through females is called) has ceased to 
exist in a pure form, and society has passed, or is passing, 
into the patriarchal stage. The Marquis of the Sun 
type is, therefore, more recent than the other types of 
the Swan-maiden tradition, none of which so uniformly 
in all their variants recognize the father's supreme 
position." 

I ' Not entirely : see Burton, " Suppl. Nijjhls," vol. vi. (i. 363 ; •■ V, 

. L. Journal," vol. i. p. 284; Saatti, p. 148. 

= In speaking of a type as more or less recent llian another, it must 
bs recollected that I am not speaking al chronological order, but of ihe 
order of development, Kor aught we know, the story of the Marquis 

\ 0! the Sun may as a matter of date be actual!]' older, could we trace 






THE 



I OF FAIRV TALES. 



If the tasks and the flight be a reTniniscencc of purchase 
and capture, we may find in that reminiscence a reason 
why nearly all the stories concur in representing the 
father under a forbidding aspect. As his daughter's 
vendor, — her unwilling vendor,^as her guardian from 
capture, he would be the natural foe of her lover. He 
is not always so ready as the Bird Simer to give up to 
another his rights over her ; but perhaps the Bird Simcr's 
readiness maybe partly explained by the husband's having 
already performed the feat of rescuing the maiden from 
a giant, beside slaying his own brother for her sake. 
Usually the father is a frightful ogre or giant ; not in- ' 
frequently he is no less a personage than the Devil him- 
self. And the contrast between him and his lovely 
daughter would be more and more strongly felt as 
purchase aud capture ceased to be serious methods of 
bride-winning. Hence, probably, the thought of real 
relationship would be abandoned, and the maiden would ; 
often be conceived of as enchanted and captive in the ] 
hands of a malevolent being. 

We will not now stop to discuss the tasks in detail : 
we can only afford time to glance at one of them, namely, 
that of distinguishing the maid from her sisters. There I 
are three chief means by which the lover or husband is ] 
enabled to identify the object of his devotion. Two of 1 
these depend upon the lady herself ; in the one she slily , 
helps her lover ; in the other he recognizes an insigni- I 
ficant peculiarity of her person or attire. The third I 
means is an indication given by one of the lower animals, 
which has better means of knowledge than the suitor, ! 
due probably to its greater cleverness— a quality, as I 
have already pointed out in Chapter JI., universally j 
credited in a certain stage of culture to these creatures. ' 
We will deal first with the second means, 
il, Ihan the for more archaic slory of Tnwhaki. But the socit 
which it took shupe ws^ mote advani^ed than that disclosed ii 
Maori legend. 



■^W SWAN-MAIDENS. 293 

The most usual personal idiosyncrasy of the damsel is 
the want of a finger, or sonie deformity in it, the result 
of her previous efforts to aid the hero. Thus, in a Basque 
tale the lad is set to find a ring lost by the ogre in a river. 
This is accomplished by cutting up the maiden and 
throwing the pieces into the stream ; but a part of the 
little finger sticks in his shoe. When he afterwards has 
to choose between the ogre's daughters with his eyes shut, 
he recognizes his love by the loss of her little finger. 
The giant's daughter, in a West Highland tale, makes a 
ladder with her fingers for her lover to climb a tree to 
fetch a magpie's eggs ; and, in the hurry, she leaves her 
little finger at the top. This accident arises sometimes, 
as in the Marquis of the Sun, from, the dropping of a 
piece of flesh on the ground when the hero cuts up his 
beloved ; or, according to a. story of the Italian Tirol, 
from spilling some of her blood. In the latter case, three 
drops of blood fall into the lake, instead of the bucket 
prepared to receive them, and thereby almost cause the 
failure of his task. When the magician afterwards leads 
the youth to his daughters and bids him choose, he takes 
the youngest by the hand, and says ; " I choose this one." 
We are not told that there was any difference in the 
maidens' hands, but this is surely to be inferred. In the 
Milanese story of the King of the Sun the hero also 
chooses his wife blindfold from the king's three daughters 
by touching their hands ; and here, too, M-e must sup- 
pose previous help or concert, though it has disappeared 
from the test. In a story from Lorraine, John has to 
take the devil's daughter, Grcenfeather, to pieces to find 
a spire for the top of a castle that he is compelled to 
buiid ; and in putting her together again he sets one of 
lier little fingers clumsily. With bandaged eyes he has 
to find the lady who has assisted him ; and he succeeds 
by putting his hand on hers. The lad who falls into the 
strange gentleman's hands in a Breton tale, forgets to 
put the little toe of the girl's left foot into the caldron ; 



-Jfa>>>1 



294 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

and when she and her two sisters are led before him 
veiled and clad in other than their ordinary garb, he 
knows her at once by the loss of her toe. As it is told 
in Denmark the enchanted princess agrees with the king's 
son to wind a red silken thread around her little finger ; 
and by this means he identifies her, though in the form 
of a little grey-haired, long-eared she-ass, and again of a 
wrinkled, toothless, palsied old woman, into which the 
sorceress, whose captive she is, changes her. In a Swedish 
story the damsel informs her lover that when the mer- 
maid's daughters appear in various repulsive forms she 
will be changed into a little cat with her side burnt anu 
one ear snipped. The Catalonian mdrchcn of Joanescas 
represents the heroine as wanting a joint of her finger, 
from her lover having torn off some of her feathers by 
accident when he stole her robe. " Monk '' Lewis in his 
" Journal of a West India Proprietor " gives an Ananci tale 
in which the heroine and her two sisters are changed 
into black cats : the two latter bore scarlet threads round 
their necks, the former a blue thread.' According to 
the Carmarthenshire saga, the lady is recognized by the 
strapping of her sandal. 

In several of the stories just cited, and many of their 
congeners, the maiden forewarns her suitor how she will 
be disguised, or by what marks she will be known. 
Sometimes, however, she makes a sign to him on the 
spot. The Lady of the Van Pool only thrusts her foot 
forward that he may notice her shoe-tie ; but Cekanka 
in a Bohemian tale is bold enough to wink at him. In 
a Russian variant of the Marquis of the Sun, to which 
I have already referred, the hero is in the power of the 
Water King. On his way to that potentate's palace he 

* Webster, p. 120; Campbell, vol. i. p. 25; '* M^lusine," vol. i. 
p. 446; ** F. L. Espafi." vol. i. p. 187; Schneller, p. 71 ; Imbriani, 
p. 411 ; Cosquin, vol. i. pp. 9, 25 ; Sebillot, " Contes," vol. i. p. 197 ; 
Grundtvig, vol. i. p. 46 ; Cavallius, p. 255 ; Maspons y Labros, p. 102 ; 
'* F. L. Journal," vol. i. p. 284, quoting Lewis. 



SWAN-MAIDENS. 295 

had, by the advice of the Baba Yaga, gone to the seashore 
and watched until twelve spoonbills alighted, and, turn- 
ing into maidens, had unrobed for the purpose of bathing. 
Then he had stolen the eldest maiden's shift, to restore 
it only on her jiromise to aid him against her father, the 
Water King. She redeems the pledge by performing for 
him the usual tasks, the last of which is to choose the 
same bride thrice among the king's twelve daughters. 
The first time she secretly agrees with him that she will 
wave her handkerchief ; the second time she is to be 
arranging her dress ; and the third time he will see a 
fly above her head." 

Here we are led to the third means of recognition. 
The incident of help rendered by one or more of the 
lower animals to man is a favourite one in folk-tales ; 
and it has furnished a large portion of the argumentative 
stock-in-trade of those scholars who contend for their 
Indian origin. We are assured that every tale which 
contains this incident must be referred to a Buddhist 
source, or at least has been subjected to Buddhist in- 
fluence. This theory is supported by reference to the 
doctrine of love for all living creatures which Buddha 
is said to have promulgated. The command to over- 
come hatred by love, the precepts of self-sacrifice and 
devotion to others' good were not limited in the Buddha's 
discourses, if those discourses be correctly reported, to 
our conduct towards our fcllow-men : they included all 
creation. And they were enforced by parables which 
represented good as done in turn to men by all sorts of 
creatures, even the wildest and the most savage. Stories 
of grateful beasts, of the tvpe familiar to us in Androcles 
and the Lion, became favourites among the disciples of 
the Light of Asia. Scholars, therefore, have told us that 
wherever a grateful beast thrusts his muzzle into the 
story, that story must have come from India, and must 
have come since the rise of Buddhism, Nay, they go 
• Waldau, p. 248 ; Ralsloo, " li. F, Tales," p, 1 20, ftoni Afanasief. 



1^6 THE SCIENCE OF KAIRV TALES, I 

further. In every instance where a beast appears as 
helping the hero, we are taught to presume that the 
hero has first helped the beast, even though no trace of i 
such an incident be actually found. It must have been I 
so, otherwise the beast would have had no motive for j 
helping the hero, — and, it may be added, the theorist 1 
would have had no ground for claiming the story as j 
proceeding from a Buddhist source. | 

Now all this would have been seen at once to be very ] 
poor reasoning, but for one fact. A number, sufficient 
to be called large, of parables, have actually made their 
way from India to Europe in historic times, and since 
the age of Gautama, The literary history of these 
parables can be traced ; and it must be acknowledged 
that, whatever their origin, they have been adopted ■] 
into Buddhist works and adapted to Buddhist doctrine. I 
Further, it seems demonstrated that some of them j 
have descended into the oral tradition of various I 
nations in Europe, Asia, and even Africa. But when so I 
much as this is conceded, it still fails to account for the 1 
spread of the story of the Grateful Beasts and, even more ] 
signally, for the incident of the Beast-helpers where there 1 
is no gratitude in the case. A very slight examination I 
of the incident as it appears in the group of legends now ] 
before us will con\'ince us of this. I 

First of all, let it be admitted that in several of these 1 
tales the service rendered by the brute is in requital for "I 
a good turn on the part of the hero, Andrianbro, as we I 
have seen, begins by making friends with various animals I 
by means of the mammon of unrighteousness in the I 
shape of a feast. Jagatalapratapa, in the narrative already I 
cited from the Tamil book translated into English under I 
the title of " The Dravidian Nights Entertainments," I 
pursuing one of Indra's four daughters, is compelled by j 
her father, after three other trials, to choose her out from 1 
her sisters, who are all converted into one shape. He 1 
prays assistance from a kind of grasshopper ; and thej 




SWAN-MAIDF.NS. 



297 



r little creature, in return for a previous benefit, hops upon 
' her foot. But it is somewhat curious, if the theory be 
true, that even in stories told among peoples distinctly 
_ under Buddhist influence the gratitude is by no means 
an invariable point. Thus the princess in the Burmese 
drama is betrayed by " the king of flies " to her husband, 
though the abstract we have of the play gives us no hint 
of any previous transaction between the puny monarch 
and the hero ; and it is worthy of note that the Tibetan 
version of the same plot given by Mr. Ralston from the 
Kah-Gyur knows nothing of this entomological agency. 
There the hero is a Bodisat, who, if he does not recognize 
his beloved among the thousand companions who sur- 
round her, at least has a spell the utterance of which 
compels her to step out from among them. It does not 
appear that Kasimbaha, the Bantik patriarch, is required 
to undergo this particular test. But he is indebted to a 
bird for indicating the lady's residence ; a glow-worm 
places itself at her chamber door ; and a fly shows him 
which of a number of dishes set before him he must not 
uncover. M. Cosquin, who is an adherent of the Buddhist 
hypothesis, in relating this instance, is compelled ex- 
pressly to say that " one does not see why " these animals 
should render such services. Neither, on M. Cosquin's 
principle, can one see why, in the Araw^k story, the 
spiders should spin cords to help the outcast husband 
I down from heaven, or the birds take his part against the 
I vulture-folk to enable him to recover his wife.' The proof 
■ of Buddhist influence must rest heavily on its advocates 
here, both on account of the absence of motive for grati- 
I tude, and of the distance of the Arawak people from 
I India and the utter disparity of civilizations. 

The agency of recognition, when attributed to one of 



' Compnce Ihe assistance tendered by the birds lo Ti 
z86. The Eskimo hero is conveyed lo his wifi^ on b 
I (Rink, p. 145). Where is Ihe Buddhist pedigree ot Ihis ir 
[ evidence of Buddhist influence which produced it ? 



,,M 



agS THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. I 

the lower animals, is orditiarily an insect ; but the reason I 
is, as often as not, a prior arrangement with the lady, as 1 
in the Russian story of the Water King. The Polish I 
marchen of Prince Unexpected follows this line. In it, I 
the princess warns her lover that she will have a lady- 1 
bird over her right eye. When a thousand maidens all I 
alike are produced to poor Hans in a Bohemian tale, he I 
has no difficulty in selecting the right one ; for a witch I 
has bidden him "choose her on whom, from the roof ] 
of the chamber, a spider descends." ' J 

These considerations are sufficient to prove that the I 
incident of the Helpful Beasts, as found in the Swan- I 
maiden group of stories, cannot be attributed to a I 
Buddhist origin. I 

We have now dealt with an episode of the mythical I 
narrative, necessary, indeed, to its completion, but found I 
only under certain conditions which I have pointed out. j 
We have seen this episode in two distinct forms whose I 
respective sources wc have assigned to two distinct stages of I 
culture. The form characteristic of ihe European wnVcA^j I 
is apparently more barbarous in several respects than that J 
yielded by the islanders of the Southern Ocean ; but the 1 
latter bears testimony to a state of society more archaic I 
than the other. Presumably, therefore, it represents I 
more nearly the primitive form of the story. I 

We turn next to the central incidents. In theprevious I 
chapter I have taken pains to show the unmistakable I 
relation between the different types of the myth, in spite I 
of the omission of the feather-robe, or indeed of any I 
substitute for it. The truth is that the feathcr-robc is I 
,no more than a symbol of the wife's superhuman nature, J 
From the more archaic variants it is absent ; but 1 
frequently the true form of the lady is held to be I 
that of a member of what we contemptuously call I 
"the brute creation." Men in savagery, as we have I 

■ SnBlri, p. Eo; Cosquln, vol. ii. pp. 19, iS; Kalslon, "TilietatiiJ 
Tales," p. 72 ; " F. L. Jmirral," vol. ii. p. 9 ; Vernoleken, p. 280, J 



^H into 



SWAN-MAIDENS. 299 

;already seen, have quite different feelings from those 

of contempt for brutes. On the contrary, they enter- 

the highest respect and even awe for them. 

They trace their descent from some of them ; and 

change of form from beast to man, or from man 

to beast, while still preserving individual identity, would 

not seem at all incredible, or even odd, to them. By 

and by, however, the number of creatures having 

these astonishing powers would decrease, as the circle 

of experience widened. But there would linger a belief 

remarkable instances, as at Shan-si, in China, where 

s believed that there is stiil a bird which can divest 

itself of its feathers and become a woman. Not every 

swan would then be deemed capable of turning when it 

into a. fair maiden ; and when this change hap- 

■d, it would be attributed to enchantment, which had 

caused the maiden merely to assume the appearance of a 

for a time and for a special purpose. This often occurs, 

: have seen, in marckcn, where the contrast between 
the heroine and her father, or, as it is then often put, her 
niaster, is very strong. It occurs, too, in tales belonging 
to other types. A mdrchen told by Dr. Pitre relates that 
a man had a pet magpie, which by enchantment had the 
power of casting its wings and becoming a woman. She 
always practised this power in his absence ; but he came 
home one day and found her wings on the chair. He 
burnt them, and she remained permanently a woman 
and married him. In a saga from Guiana a warlock's 
daughter persuades her father to transform her into a 

that she may venture near a hunter whom she loves. 
He accordingly gives her a skin, which she draws over 
her shoulders, and thus becomes a hound. When the 
hunter finds her in his hut as a maiden, the charmed skin 
hanging up and revealing her secret, he flings the skin 
into the fire and weds her." 

F. L. Journal," vol. vii. p. 31S; Pilrc, vol. iv. pp. 391, 410. 

unL given by Ptof. De Cubeinalis is nearly allied lo the Cinderella 
ip (" Novelline," p. M) i^ Brelt, t 



300 



THE SCIENCE OF rAIRl 



But enchantment is not the only explanation. TheJ 
lady may, like Hasan's bride, be held to belong to am 
superior race to men, though properly in human form.]" 
In either case the pc-ltry would hu a mere veil hiding the I 
true individuality for a while. It would thus acquire a 
distinct magical efficacy ; so that when deprived of it,.] 
the maiden would be unable to effect the change, 
remarkable instance of this occurs in an Arab saga.."^ 
There a man, at Algiers, puts to death his three I 
daughters, who afterwards appear to a guitar-player and I 
dance to his playing. As they dance they throw him the J 
rind of the oranges they hold in their hands ; and thiS'| 
rind is found the next day changed into gold piei 
into jewels. The following year the maidens appear J 
again to the guitar-player. He manages to get hold of^ 
their shrouds, which he burns. They thereupon come 
back to life, and he weds the youngest of them. This is 
said to have happened no longer ago than sixty yearsJ 
before the French conquest of Algiers.' 

Nothing of the sort is found in the Maori tales, 
the natives of New Zealand no change seemed needful ;■ 
the lady was of supernatural birth and could fly as sheJ 
pleased. The same may be said of Andrian6ro's wifefF 
notwithstanding that the Malagasy variant, as a whole,] 
bespeaks a higher level of culture than the adventures ofl 
Tawhaki and Tini-rau. As little do we find the magical J 
robe in the Passamaquoddy story of the Partridge and the J 
Sheldrake Duck. The Dyaks of Borneo are unconscious i 
of the need of it in the saga of their ancestral fish, the I 
puttin^ which was caught by a man, and when laid in hial 
boat turned into a girl, whom he gave to his son for «| 
bride. The Chinese have endless tales about foxes which,>l 
assume human form ; but the fox's skin plays no part ina 

' Uassel, p. 161, quoting Bresnier, " Cours dc langiic Arabe." 

Maya story gi\'cii by Dt. Erinlon, Ihe husband pteventb his wife's ..-. 

fonnation inadifferenl way — namely, by throwing sail (" F, L.JoumaI,*a 
vol, i. p. 151). 



SWAN -MAID ENS. 



Ei in a Japanese tale belonging to the group 
[deration, the lady changes into a fox and 
back again into a lady without any apparatus of peltry." 

Again, in the nursery tales of the higher races, the 
dress when cast seems simply an article of human cloth- 
ing, often nothing but a girdle, veil, or apron ; and it is 
only when donned by the enchanted lady, or elf, that it 
is found to be neither more nor less than a complete 
plumage. Thence it easily passes into a mere instrument 
of power, like the mermaid's belt and pouch in the 
Scottish story, or the book of command in the miirchen 
of the Island of Happiness, and is on its way to final 
disappearance. 

The maiden's capture is effected in those types of the 
tale where the enchanted garment is worn, by the theft 
of the garment. These cases will not detain our atten- 
tion : we will pass at once to the discussion of those 
where there is no transformation to be effected or 
dreaded. Perhaps the most interesting of all are the 
Welsh sagas ; and of these not the least remarkable is 
the suit by offerings of food. Andrianftro tried this 
device in the Malagasy story ; but it was unsucce.ssful. 
In a Caman'onshire analogue from Llanberis, the youth 
entices his beloved into his grasp by means of an apple : ° 
in the Van Pool variants the offering assumes almo.st a 
sacramental character. Until the fairy maiden has tasted 
earthly bread, or until her suitor has eaten of the food 
which sustains her, he cannot be united to her. Here we 
are reminded on the one hand of the elfin food con- 
sidered in a former chapter, to partake of which sealed 
the adventurer's fate and prevented him for ever from 
returning to his human home ; and on the other hand of 
the ceremony of eating together which among so many 
nations has been part of the marriage rites. 

' "Joum. Ethnol, Soc." N.S.,vol. ii.p.26: Giles, /bj^/zm ; lirnims, 

388. 

' " Y Cjmmrodor," vol. v. p. 94. 



THE SCIENCE OF KAIRV TALES. 



Walter Map relates a curious story of Llangorse Lai 
having affinities for the Land East of the Sun, and sli 
more with one of the Maori sagas. Wastin of Wastiniog 
watched, the writer tells us, three clear moonlit nights 
and saw bands of women in his oat-fields, and followed 
them until they plunged into the pool, where he 
heard them conversing, and saying to one another 
he did so and so, he would catch one of us." Thu! 
instructed, he of course succeeded in capturing one, 
Here, as in many of the stories, the lady has obviousl 
designs upon the mortal of opposite sex, and deliberately 
throws herself in his way. But she lays a taboo upooT 
him, promising to serve him willingly and with all 
obedient devotion, until that day he should strike her in 
anger with his bridle. After the birth of several children 
he was unfortunate enough on some occasion, the details 
of which Walter Map has forgotten, to break the condi- 
tion ; whereupon she fled with all her offspring, of whom 
her husband was barely able to save one before she' 
plunged with the rest into the lake. This one, whoi 
he called Triunnis Nagelwch, grew up, and entered th( 
service of tlie King of North Wales. At his royal 
master's command, Triunnis once led a marauding ex- 
pedition into the territory of the King of Brecknock, 
A battle ensued, when he was defeated and his band cut 
to pieces. It is said that Triunnis himself was saved by 
his mother, and thenceforth dwelt with her in the lake. 
"But, indeed," adds the truth -loving Walter, "I think 
it is a lie, because a delusion of this kind is so likely 
account for his body not having been found." ' 

In spite, however, of such unwonted incredulity, Ma] 
having once begun by telling this story, proceeds to ti 
another like it, which he seems to have no difficulty 
believing. The second tale concerns a hero of the Wei 
border, Wild Edric, of whose historic reality as one 
the English rebels against William the Conqueror tl 
' Map, Dist. li. c. II. 



t^^H 

iog 

Its 

ed 

I 






I 



SWAN-MAIDENS. 303 

is ample proof. It appears that Edric, returning from 
hunting, lost his way in the Forest of Dean, and accom- 
panied only by one boy, reached about midnight a large 
house which turned out to be a drinking-shop, such as 
the English, Map says, call a guildhausc. On approach- 
ing it he saw a light, and looking in, he beheld a number 
of women dancing. They were beautiful in countenance, 
bigger and taller than ordinary women. He noticed one 
among them fairer than the rest, and (Walter, perhaps, 
had Fair Rosamund in his mind when he says) more to 
be desired than ail the darlings of kings. Edric rushed 
round the house and, finding an entrance, dashed in and 
with the help of his boy dragged her out, despite a furious 
resistance in which the nails and teeth of her companions 
made themselves felt. She brooded in sullen silence for 
three whole days ; but on the fourth day she exclaimed 
to her new master : " Bless you, my dearest, and you will 
be blessed too, and enjoy health and prosperity until you 
reproach me on account of my sisters, or the place, or the 
grove whence you have snatched me away, or anything 
-connected with it. For the very day you do so your 
happiness will forsake you, I shall be taken away ; and 
you will suffer repeated misfortune, and long for your 
own death." He pledged fiimself to fidelity ; and to 
their splendid nuptials nobles came from far and near. 
King William heard of the wonder, and bade [he newly 
wedded pair to London, where he was then hoJding his 
court, that he might test the truth of the tale. They 
proved it to him by many witnesses from their own 
country ; but the chief testimony was that of the lady's 
superhuman beauty ; and he dismissed them in admira- 
tion to their home. After many years of happiness 
Edric returned one evening late from hunting, and 
could not find his wife. He spent some time in vainly 
for her before she came. " Of course," he began, 
, " you have not been detained so long by your 
isters, have you ? " The rest of his wrath fell upon the 



306 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

if he could find out her name. When he had discovered 
it, she asked in astonishment ; " O mortal, who has be- 
trayed my name to thee ? ^' Then, lifting up her tiny 
folded hands, she exclaimed : " Alas ! my fate, my fate ! " 
Even then she would only marry him on condition that 
if ever he should touch her with iron she would be free 
to leave him and return to her family. Catastrophe, as 
before. In a variant the maiden, pressed by her human 
lover, promises to marry, provided he can find out her 
name. When he succeeds in doing this she faints away, 
but has to submit to her doom. In doing so, she imposes 
one more proviso : he is not to touch her with iron, nor 
is there to be a bolt of iron, or a lock, on their door. The 
servant-girl, in another story cited in Chapter VII., who 
was rescued from Fairyland, could only stay, it will be 
remembered, in her master^s service so long afterward, as 
he forebore to strike her with iron ; and the fatal blow 
was struck accidentally with a bit.' 

Mr.- Andrew Lang has remarked, following Dr. Tylor, 
that in this taboo the fairy mistress is " the representative 
of the stone age." This is so ; and the reason is, because 
she belongs to the realm of the supernatural. When the 
use of metals was discovered, stone implements were dis- 
carded in ordinary life ; but for ages afterwards knives of 
stone were used for religious purposes. There is evidence, 
for instance, that the Hebrews, to seek no further, em- 
ployed them in some of their sacred rites ; an altar of 
stone was forbidden to be hewn ; and when King 
Solomon built the temple, " there was neither hammer, 
nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it 
was in building." Although there may be no direct 
evidence of such a practice among the Cymric Britons, 
they were probably no exception to the rule, which seems 
to have been general throughout the world ; and the 
Druids' custom of cutting the mistletoe with a golden, not 
with an iron, sickle, points in this direction. The reten" 
' Ibid. p. 189 ; vol. v. pp. 59, 66 ; vol. vi. p. 196, 




SWAN-MAIDENS. 



307 



tion of stoue instruments in religious worship was doubt- 
I less due to the intense conservatism of religious feeling. 
The gods, having been served with stone for so long, 
would be conceived of as naturally objecting to change ; 
and the implements whose use had continued through so 
many revolutions in ordinary human utensils, would 
thereby have acquired a divine character. Changes of 
religion, however, brought in time changes even in these 
usages. Christianity was bound to no special reverence 
for knives and arrowheads of flint ; but they seem to 
have been still vaguely associated with the discarded 
deities, or their allies, the Nymphs and Oreads and Fairies 
of stream or wood or dell, and with the supernatural 
generally. A familiar example of this is the name of 
Elfbolts given by the country people in this and other 
lands to these old-world objects, whenever turned up by 
the harrow or the spade. Now the traditional preference 
on the part of supernatural beings for stone instruments 
is only one side of the thought which would, as its reverse 
side, show a distinct abhorrence by the same mythical 
personages for metals, and chiefly (since we have long 
passed out of the bronze age) for iron. Not only do 
witches and spirits object to the horseshoe ; axes and 
iron wedges are equally distasteful to them — at all events 
in Denmark. So in Brittany, when men go to gather 
the hcrhe ii\ir, a medicinal plant of extraordinary virtue, 
they go barefooted, in a white robe and fasting, and no 
iron may be employed; and though all the necessary 
ceremonies be performed, only holy men will be able to 
find it. The magical properties of this plant, as well as 
the rites requisite to obtain it, disclose its sacredness to 
the old divinities. It shines at a distance like gold, and 
if one tread on it he will fall asleep, and will come to 
understand the languages of birds, dogs, and wolves.' 
In previous chapters we have already had occasion to note 
■ Pliny I. xvi. c. 95; Thorpe, vol. ii. pp. 275, 2;?; .SH'p!iens, 
I p. 348, ciliag the " Borzoa Breiz." 



3o8 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. J 

this dislike for iron and steel. Htnco the placing of Scissors I 
and fire-steel in a minchristened babe's cradle. Hence the I 
reason for the midwife's casting a knife behind her when I 
she left the troll's dwelling laden with his gifts ; and for I 
the Islay father's taking the precaution of striking his I 
dirk into the threshold when he sought his son in the 1 
fairy hill. So, too, in Sweden people who bathed in the I 
sea were gravely advised to cast into it close to them a I 
fire-steel, a knife, or the like, to prevent any monster from I 
hurting iheni. The bolts and locks to which the iairy i 
of Beddgelert objected would have prevented her free 
passage into and out of the house. 

In the Pomeranian saga quoted in the last chapter, the | 
enchanted princess is unable to open the trunk which J 
contains her magical shift : she must wait for aTiother to J 
open it and give her the garment. In the same way I 
Hasan's bride could not herself go to the chest and get her I 
feather- dress. The key was committed to her mother- J 
in-law'a care, and was forced from the old woman by I 
Zubaydah, the Caliph's wife ; nor did it ever come into I 
the fairy's hands, for her dress was fetched for her by I 
Masrur at Zubaydah's bidding. It is not unlikely that I 
the reason for (he supernatural wife's difficulty in these | 
and analogous cases is the metal lock and key. But we I 
must not forget that the robe is not always locked up in a I 
chest. Sometimes it is hidden in a hole in the wall, some- I 
times in a stack of corn, sometimes beneath the main-post I 
of the wooden hut in which the wedded pair are dwelling, I 
Moreover, we must not leave out of account that in the \ 
Nightmare type the wife cannot her.sclf take the «'Of>den I 
stopper out of the hole through which she entered ; but I 
directly it is removed by another she vanishes. These I 
things go to show that such supernatural beings cannot | 
themselves undo charms expressly performed against I 
them. So evil spirits cannot penetrate a circle drawn 1 
around him by one who invokes them. So, too, the sign I 
of the cross is an efficient protection against them; aq^l 



^^^H SWAN -MAIDENS. 309 

' it is therefore made upon chiiicht;s and altars at the time 
of consecration. 

But the stipulation made by the lady of Corwrion was 
twofold. Not only was her bridegroom to forbear striking 
her with iron, but he was not even to know her name. 
It is so difficult for us to put ourselves into the mental 
attitude of savages, that we do not understand the objec- 
tion they almost all entertain to the mention of their 
names. The objection itself is, however, well known 
and widely spread ; but it ia not always manifested in 
exactly the same form. In some cases a man only refuses 
to utter his own name, while he will utter another's 
name readily enough. Sometimes it is deemed an un- 
I pardonable thing to call another by name ; he must be 
I addressed, or spoken of by an epithet. And frequently 
a man's real name is a profound secret, known only to 
himself, all others knowing him only by some epithet or 
I title. Sometimes it is only forbidden to relatives by 
marriage to speak one another's names. Thus in various 
ways etiquette has prescribed a number of customs 
limiting the utterance of names among savage and 
barbarous peoples all the world over. The oiigin of 
these rules and customs seems to have been the dread of 
sorcery. A personal name was held to be a part of its 
owner ; and, just as the possession of a lock of another's 
hair, or even a paring of his nail, was believed to confer 
[ power over him, so was the knowledge of his name. 
I Similarly men in the lower culture have a great fear of 
having their likenesses taken ; and everybody is familiar 
I with the belief that a witch, who has made a waxen 
I image and given it the name of any one (vhom she wants 
[ to injure, can, by sticking pins in it, or melting it in a 
1 flame, inflict pain, and even death, upon the person whom 
b the doll represents.' 

I ' The above paragraphs had scarcely been wrillcn when Ihe London 
1 papers (Jane 1890) reprinted exlracla from a leller in Ihe Vessisclie 
L,2«i(«n/relating Ihe adventures of Dr. Bayol, the Goveraorof Kolenon, 



3IO THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

Illustrations of this superstition might easily be multi- 
plied from every nation under heaven. But we need not 
go so far afield ; for if we compare the taboo in the story 
of Corwrion with the other stories I have cited from 
the same county, we shall have no difficulty in satisfying 
ourselves as to its meaning. It can only belong to the 
stage of thought which looks with dread on the use that 
may be made of one^s name by an enemy, — a stage of 
thought in which the fairy might naturally fear for a 
man of another race, albeit her husband, to become 
possessed of her real name. What else can we infer from 
the evident terror and grief with which the captive ladies 
hear their names from their suitors' lips ? It is clear 
that the knowledge of the fairy's name conferred power 
over her which she was unable to resist. This is surely 
the interpretation also of the Danish tale of a man from 
whom a Hill-troll had stolen no fewer than three wives. 
Riding home late one night afterwards, he saw a great 
crowd of Hill-folk dancing and making merry ; and 
among them he recognized his three wives. One of these 
was Kirsten, his best beloved, and he called out to her 
and named her name. The troll, whose name was 
Skynd, or Hurry, came up to him and asked him w^hy 
he presumed to call Kirsten. The man explained that 
she had been his favourite wife, and begged him with 
tears to give her back to him. The troll at last con- 
sented, but with the proviso that he should never hurry 
(skynde) her. For a long time the condition was 
observed ; but one day, as she was delayed in fetching 
something for her husband from the loft, he cried out to 
her : ** Make haste {skynde dtg)^ Kirsten ! " And he had 
hardly spoken the words when the woman was gone, 

who was recently imprisoned by the bloodthirsty King of Dahomey. 
The king was too suspicious to sign the letter written in his name to the 
President of the French Republic. In all probability he was unwilling 
to let the President have his sign manual, for of course M. Carnot would 
have no hesitation in bewitching him by its means. 



SWAN-MAIDENS. 3II 

compelled to return to the troll's abode. Here we have 
the phenomenon in a double form ; for not only does the 
husband regain his wife from the troll by pronouncing 
her name, but he loses her once more by inadvertently 
summoning her captor. It is a German superstition that 
a mara, or nightniare, can be effectually exorcised if the 
sufferer surmises who it is, and instantly addresses it by 
name." We can now understand how, in the Carmarthen- 
shire story mentioned in Chapter VII., the farmer was 
rescued from the fairies under whose spell he had been 
for twelve months. A man caught sight of him dancing 
on the mouutain and broke the spell by speaking to him. 
It must have been the utterance of his name that drew 
him out of the enchanted circle. 

Returning, however, to the legend of Wastin, we may 
)bserve how much narrower and less likely to be infringed 
s the taboo imposed on him than that imposed on the 
youth of Blaensawdde. Yet the lady of the Van Pool, 
whatever her practice, had in theory some relics of old- 
fashioned wifely duty. She did not object to the 
chastisement which the laws of Wales allowed a husband 
to bestow. A husband was permitted to beat his wife 
for three causes ; and if on any other occasion he raised 
his hand against her, she had her remedy in the shape 
I sardd, or fine, to be paid to her for the disgrace. 
But a sarM would not satisfy this proud lady ; nothing 
less than a divorce would meet the case. The Partridge's 
wife, as we have seen, was still more exacting : she declined 
to be struck at all. In the same way the fish who had 
become a girl, in the Dyak story, cautioned her husband 
i her well ; and when he struck her she rushed 
back screaming into the water. In another Bornoese 
tradition, which is quoted by Mr. Farrcr, the heroine 
■j taken up to the sky because her husband had struck 
ler, there having been no previous prohibition.' A 

' Keighlley, p. 121, quoting from Thiele; Thorpe, vol. iji. p. 1 55, 
' Ancieot Laws and Institutes of Wales (Public Kecord Coram, 



312 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

different sort of personal violence is resented in the 
Bantik legend cited above. There the husband is 
forbidden to tear out one white hair which adorns 
Outahagi, his wife's head. He disobeys after she has 
given birth to a son ; and she vanishes in a tempest and 
returns to the sky, where her husband is forced to seek 
her again. 

The stipulation made by Wild Edric's bride is still 
more arbitrary, according to our notions, than these. 
Her husband was forbidden to reproach her on account 
of her sisters, or the place from which he snatched her 
away. In other words, he was forbidden to charge her 
with her supernatural character. When Diarmaid, the 
daughter of King Underwaves, comes in the form of a 
beggar to Fionn and insists on sharing his couch, she 
becomes a beautiful girl, and consents to marry him on 
condition that he does not say to her thrice how he found 
her. In a variant, the hero, going out shooting, meets 
with a hare, which, when hard pressed by the dogs, turns 
into a woman. She promises to wed him on his entering 
into three vows, namely, not to ask his king to a feast 
without first letting her know (a most housewifely 
proviso), not to cast up to her in any company that he 
found her in the form of a hare, and not to leave her in 
the company of only one man. Both these are West 
Highland tales ; and in the manner of the taboo they 
closely resemble that given by Map. In an Illyrian 
story, a Vila is by a youth found one morning sleeping 
in the grass. He is astonished at her beauty, and plants 
a shade for her. When she wakes she is pleased, and 
asks what he wants for such kindness. He asks nothing 
less than to take her to wife ; and she is content, but, 
avowing herself a Vila, forbids him to utter that name, 
for if he should do so she must quit him at once. 

1841) pp. 44, 252. (The Dimetian code was the one in force at 
Myddfai; but that of Gwynedd was similar in this respect.) Farrer, 



^^T Reau has glorified ooe of these stones by his touch ; 
^H and it was a true in^inct that ^ded him to make 

^^ Lamia's dha-ooexrasee: fellow, not on Antdlonius' draun- ^ 

>the Esthotiian tale warns her husband against calling her ^H 

Mermaid. In this connection it is obvious to refer to ^^M 

the euphemistic title Eumenides, bestowed by the Greelcs ^H 



Keats has glorified ooe d these stones by his touch ; 
and it was a true in^inct that ^ded him to make 
Lamia's di»[^)earaiice feUcnr, not on Apdlonius' denmi- 
ciation of her real character, but on the echo of the 
words " A serpent '. " by her astounded hushand, 
Lydus. What matter that the philosopher should make 
a charge against her ? It was only when her lover 
repeated the ibul word that she forsook him. The 
nightmare- wife in one of the stories mentioned in the 
last chapter vanbhes, it will be remembered, on being 
reproached with her origin, and in another on being 
asked how she became a nightmare ; and the lady i 



on the Furies, and to the parallel names, Good People and 
Fair Family, for fays in this country. In all these cases 
the thought is distinguishable from that of the Car- 
narvonshire sagas ; for the offence is not giicn by the 
utterance of a personal name, but by incautious use of 
a generic appellation which conveys reproach, if not 

The heroine of a saga of the Gold Coast was really a 
fish, but was in the form of a woman. Her husband had 
sworn to her that he would not allude in any way to her 
home or her relatives ; and, relying on this promise, his 
wife had disclosed her true nature to him and taken him 
down to her home. He was kindly received there, but 
was speared by some fishermen, and only with difficulty 
rescued by his new relatives, who enjoined him when he 
returned to earth with his wife to keep the spearhead 
carefully concealed. It was, however, found and claimed 
by its owner ; and to escape the charge of theft the hus- 

' CnmpbeU, vol. iii. p. 403 ; Mac Innes, p. Jil; Wralislaw. p. 314. 
C/. a similar slory told by a peasant to Dr. Krauss' mother no longer ago 
than 1888, as havinj,' recently happened at Mtkopolje ; he " knew the 
parlies i" (Krauss, " Vulk^l." p. 107). 



314 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

band reluctantly narrated the whole adventure. No evil 
consequences immediately ensued from this breach of his 
vow. But he had lately taken a second wife ; and she 
one day quarrelled with the first wife and taunted her 
with being a fish. Upbraiding her husband for having 
revealed the secret, the latter plunged into the sea and 
resumed her former shape. So in the Pawnee story of 
The Ghost Wife, a wife who had died is persuaded by her 
husband to come back from the Spirit Land to dwell again 
with himself and her child. All goes well until he takes 
a second wife, who turns out ill-tempered and jealous 
of the first wife. Quarrelling with her one day, she 
reproaches the latter with being nothing but a ghost. 
The next morning when the husband awoke, his first 
wife was no longer by his side. She had returned to 
the Spirit Land ; and the following night both he and the 
child died in their sleep — called by the first wife to 
herself.^ These sagas bring us back to that of Melusina, 
who disappears, it will be recollected, not when the 
count, her husband, breaks the taboo, but when, by 
calling her a serpent, he betrays his guilty knowledge. 
A name, indeed, is the cause of offence and disappear- 
ance in many other of these stories. The chieftain of the 
Quins, who owned the Castle of Inchiquin on the lake of 
that name, near the town of Ennis in Ireland, found in 
one of the many caves of the neighbourhood a lady who 
consented to become his bride, only stipulating that no 
one bearing the name of O'Brien should be allowed to 
enter the castle gate. When this prohibition was in- 
fringed she sprang through a window with her child 
into the lake. The property has long since passed into 
the hands of the O'Briens ; and amid the ruins of the 
castle the fatal window is still shown nearly as perfect as 
when the supernatural lady leaped through it into the 
waters. It may be safely said that the primitive form of 
the taboo has not come down to us in this tale, and that 



^^^g EWAN-MAIDEMS. 315 

it owes its present form to the fact that the O'Briens 
have acquired the estates once owned by the Quins. 
Probably the utterance of some hateful name was 
forbidden. But whatever name may have been able 
to disturb the equanimity of the Lady of Inchiquin, 
we are now famiHar enough with these superstitions to 
understand why a holy name should be tabooed by the 
goat -footed fairy wife of Don Diego Lopez in the Spanish 
tale narrated by Sir Francis Palgrave. "Holy Mary!" 
exclaimed the Don, as he witnessed an unexpected 
quarrei among his dogs, " who ever saw the like ? '' 
His wife, without more ado, seized her daughter and 
glided through the air to her native mountains. Nor 
did she ever return, though she afterwards, at her son's 
request, supplied an enchanted horse to release her hus- 
band when in captivity to the Moors. In two Norman 
variants the lady forbids the utterance in her presence of 
the name of Death.' 

These high-born heroines had, forsooth, highly deve- 
loped sensibilities. The wife of a Teton {the Tetons are 
a tribe of American natives) deserted him, abandoned 
her infant to her younger brother's care, and plunged 
into a stream, where she became what we call a mermaid, 
— and all because her husband had scolded her. In 
another American tale, where the wife was a snake, she 
deserted him from jealousy. A Tirolese saga speaks of 
a man who had a wife of unknown extraction. She had 
bidden him, whenever she baked bread, to pour water for 
her with his right hand. He poured it once with the 
left, to see what would happen. He soon saw, to his 
' "Choice Notes," \i. 5G ; rf. Jalin, p. 364, cited alwve, p. 275. 
(Kennedy relates Ihe Story of the Lady of Inchiquin differently. 
According lo him the husband was never to invite company to the 
caslle. This is probably more modem than the other version. Kennedy, 
p. 282.) Keighlley, p. 458, quoting the Qiiniierfy Kaiiew, vol. xxii. 
Sir Francis Palgrave, though an accuiale writer, was guilty of the 
unpardonntile sin of invariably ns^lccling to give his authorities. IWA- 
I p. 485, quoting Mdlle. Bosquet, " La Sormo.t\4\e ^omatiesn^tr 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 



316 

cost ; for she flew out of the house. The Queen of' 
Sheba, according to a celebrated Arab writer, 
daughter of the King of China and a Peri.- Her birth 
came about on this wise. Her father, hunting, met twi 
snakes, a black one and a white, struggling together in 
deadly combat. He killed the black one, and caused the 
white one to be carefully carried to his palace and into 
his private apartment. Oh entering the room the next 
day, he was surprised to find a lovely lady, who announced 
herself as a Peri, and thanked him for delivering her the 
day before from her enemy, the black snake. As a pri 
of her gratitude she offered him her sister in marriage, 
subject, however, to the proviso that he should never 
question her why she did this or that, else she would 
vanish, never to be seen again. The king agreed, and 
had every reason to be pleased with his beautiful bride. 
A son was born to them ; but the lady put it in the fire. 
The king wept and tore his beard, but said nothing. 
Then a daughter of singular loveliness — afterwards 
Balkis, Queen of Sheba — ^was born : a she-bear appeared 
at the door, and the mother flung her babe into its jaws. 
The king tore out not only his beard, but the hair of his 
head, in silence. A climax, however, came when, in the 
course of a war, he and his army had to effect a seven 
days' march across a certain desert. On the fifth day 
came the queen, a large knife in her hand, and, slitting 
the provision- bags and the waterskins, strewed the whole 
of the food upon the ground, and brought the king a 
his army face to face with death. Her husband could 
longer restrain himself from questioning her. Then s 
told him that his vizier, bribed by the enemy, had poisoni 
the food and water in order to destroy him and his arm' 
and that his son had a constitutional defect which 
have prevented him from living three days if she had n( 
put him in the fire. The she-bear, who was no 0I 
tftail a trusty old nurse, brought back his daughter at 
call ; but the queen tievseM iisa.^'^^AnA, ixvi 'ns sa.-s 



1 



4 



SWAN-MAIDENS. 31 7 

no more. The Nereid in the Cretan tale referred to in 
Chapter IX obstinately refused to speak, although her 
lover had fairly conquered her. But after she bore him 
a son, the old woman of whom he had previously taken 
counsel advised him to heat the oven and threaten his 
mistress that if she would not speak he would throw the 
boy into it. The Nereid seized the babe, and, crying out ; 
"Let go my child, dog!" tore it from his arms and 
vanished. It is related by Apollodorus that Thetis, who 
was also a Nereid, wished to make her son immortal. To 
this end she buried him in fire by night to burn out his 
human elements, and anointed him with ambrosia by 
day, Peleus, her husband, was not informed of the 
reason for this lively proceeding ; and, seeing his child 
in the fire, he called out. Thetis, thus thwarted, aban- 
doned both husband and child in disgust, and went back 
to her native eleincnt. In the great Sanskrit epic of the 
Maliabharata we are told that King Sautanu, walking by 
a riverside one day, met and fell in love with a beautiful 
girl, who told him that she was the river Ganges, and 
could only marry him on condition that he never qties- 
tioned her conduct. To this he, with a truly royal 
gallantry, agreed ; and she bore him several children, all 
of whom she threw into the river as soon as they were 
born. At last she bore him a boy, Bhfshma ; and her 
husband begged her to spare his life, whereupon she 
instantly changed into the river Ganges and flowed 
away. Incompatibility of temper, as evidenced by three 
simple disagreements, was a sufficient ground of divorce 
for the fairy of Llyn Nelferch, in the parish of Ystrady- 
fodwg, in Glamorganshire, from her human husband. 
In a variant of the Maori sagas, to which I have more 
than once referred, the lady quits her spouse in disgust 
because he turns out jiot to be a cannibal, as she had 
hoped from his truculent name, Kai-tangata, or man-eater. 
Truly a heartrending instance of misplaced confidence I ' 
■ "Janmil Amer, F, L.'" vol ii. p, 137 ; vq\. i. "f, 1& ■, 'iAvtuXw, ^ 



3l8 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

Many of these stories belong to the Star's Daughter 
type, — that is to say, are wanting in the taboo. But 
in every variant of the Swan -maiden group, to whatso- 
ever type it may belong, the catastrophe is inevitable 
from the beginning. Whether or not it depends on the 
breach of an explicit taboo, it is equally the work of 
doom. A legend of the Loo-Choo Islands expresses this 
feeling in its balded form. A farmer sees a bright light 
in his well, and, on drawing near, beholds a woman 
diving and washing in the water. Her clothes, strange 
i:i shape and of a ruddy sunset colour, are hanging on 
a pine-tree near at hand. He takes them, and thus 
compels her to marry him. She lives with him for ten 
years, bearing him a son and a daughter. At the end of 
that time her fate is fulfilled ; she ascends a tree during 
her husband's absence, and, having bidden her children 
farewell, glides off on a cloud and disappears. Both in 
its approximation to the Hasan of Bassorah type and in 
its attributing the separation of husband and wife to fate, 
this tale agrees remarkably with the Lay of Weyland 
Smith, where we are told : " From the south through 
Mirkwood, to fulfil their fates, the young fairy maidens 
flew. The southern ladies alighted to rest on the sea- 
strand, and fell to spinning their goodly linen. First 
All rune. Gear's fair daughter, took Egil to her bright 
bosom. The second, Swanwhite, took Slagfin. But 
Lathgund, her sister, clasped the white neck of Weyland. 
Seven winters they stayed there in peace, but the eighth 
they began to pine, the ninth they must needs part. 
The young fairy maidens hastened to Mirkwood to fulfil 
their fates." A Vidyadhari, too, who, in the Katha- 
sarit-sagara, is caught in the orthodox manner, dwells 
with a certain ascetic until she brings forth a child. She 

210; "Rosenol," vol. i. p. 162; Child, vol. i. p. '^'^'j, quoting Schmidt 
and Apollodorus ; ** Panjab N. & Q.," vol. ii. p. 207. (In this form the 
story is found as a tradition, probably derived from the Mahabharata.) 
*' Trans, Aberd. Eistedd." p. 22s *, N^W^, noV \. ^. \^^, 



^^^^ SWAN-MAIDENS. 319 

Ithen calmly remarks to her holy paramour ; "My curse 
I has been brought to ari end by living with you. If 
I you desire to see any more of me, cook this child of 
I mine with rice and eat it ; you will then be reunited to 
I me ! " Having said this, she vanished. The ascetic 
[ followed her directions, and was thus enabled to fly after 
[ her. In one of the New Z'jaland variants we are told 
I that the time came for Whai-tiri to return to her home. 
[ The same thing is indicated to the wife in a Tirolese 
I tale by means of a voice, which her husband hears as he 
I passes through the forest. The voice cried : "Tell Mao 
I- that Mamao is dead." When he repeated this to his 
I wife she disappeared ; and he never saw or heard of her 
[ after. In view of these narratives there can be little 
I doubt as to the meaning of the Arab tradition of the 
I she-demon, from whom one of the clans was descended. 
I Her union with their human father came suddenly to an 
I end when she beheld a flash of lightning.' 
1 The Star's Daughter, however, returned to the sky 
I because she was homesick. Nor is she the only heroine 
I of these tales who did so ; but homesick heroines are 
I not very interesting, and I pass to one who had a nobler 
I reason for quitting her love. The saga is told at 
W Rarotonga of a girl of dazzling white complexion who 
l^came up out of a fountain and was caught. She became 
I the wife of a chief It was the custom of the inhabitants 
I of the world from which she came to perform the 
I Csesarean operation on females who were ready to give 
I hirth ; so that the birth of a child involved the mother's 
w death. When she found on the earth, to her surprise, 
I that by allowing nature to take its course the mother as 
V well as the child was saved, she persuaded her husband 

■ to go with her to the lower world to endeavour to put 
W a stop to the cruel custom. He was ready to accompany 

■ ' DeanyK, p- 140 ; " Corpus Foet. Boi," vxil. i. p. 168 ; " Kaiha- 
■wiil-sigarB," vol. ii. p. 453, ;/■ P- 577 ; Whim, \o\. \. ^f. %% ■, S^enti'lft^x., 
lb. atos Hoberlson Smlb, p. 50. 



320 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TA1 



her j but after five several efforts to dive with hetj 
through the fountain to the regions below he wasv 

obliged to abandon the attempt. Sorrowfully embracingl 
each other, the " peerless one " said : " I alone will go to 1 
the spirit-world to teach what I have learnt from you." I 
At this she again dived down into the clear waters, andg 
was never more seen on earth.' 

It will not have escaped the reader's attention, tha» 
among the more backward races the taboo appears ' 
generally simpler in form, or is absent altogether. 
Among most, if not all, of the peoples who tell stories 
wherein this is the case, the marriage bonds are of the 
loosest description ; and there is, therefore, nothing verj 
remarkable in the supernatural bride's conduct, 
might expect to find that as advances are made i 
civilization, and marriage becomes more regarded, the 
reason for separation would become more and more com- 
plex and cogent. Am I going too far in suggesting that 
the resumption by the bride of her bird or beast shape J 
marks a stage in the development of the myth beyondj 
the Star's Daughter type ; and the formal taboo, where ^ 
the hunian figure is not abandoned, a stage later still? 
In our view, indeed, the taboo is not less irrational, as a 
means of putting an end to the marriage, than the 
retrieved robe or skin. But we forget how recent in 
civilization is the sanctity of the marriage-tie. Even 
among Christian nations divorce was practised during 
the Middle Ages for very slight reasons, despite the 
authority of popes and priests. In Eastern countries thej 
husband has always had little check on his liberty ( 
putting away a wife for any cause, or no cause at all ;fl 
and, though unrecognized by the religious books, whici 
have enforced the husband's rights with so stern i 
sanction, this liberty on his part may have been counter*! 
balanced, oftener than we think, by corresponding libert 
on the wife's part. Beyond doubt this has been so i 



the '. 

'eryi^l 

ia^H 

'Ve~ 
I- 

It 
:eH 

4 



SWAN-MAIDENS. 331 

India, where it is effected by means of marriage settle- 
ments. In Bengal, for instance, a bridegroom is some- 
times compelled to execute a deed in which he stipulates 
never to scold his wife, the penalty being a divorce ; and 
deeds are not unknown empowering the wife to get a 
divorce if her husband ever so much as disagree with 
her.' This is incompatibil tty of temper with a vengeance [ 
1 the fairy of Llyn Nelferch was willing to put up 
with two disagreements; and no taboo in story has gone, 
or could go, further. 

Moreover, some of the taboos are such as the etiquette 
of various peoples would entirely approve, though 
breaches of them might not be visited so severely as in 
the tales. I have already pointed out that the Lady of 
the Van Pool would have had a legal remedy for blows 
without cause. The romance lies in the wide inter- 
pretation she gave to the blows, and (heir disproportion- 
ate punishment. These transfer the hearer's sympathies 
from the wife to the husband. Precisely parallel seems 
to be the injunction laid upon Hohodemi, by Toyota- 
mahime, daughter of the Sea-god. I know not what may 
be the rule in Japan ; but it is probably not different 
L from that which obtains in China. There, as we learn 
' from the Li Ki, one of the Confucian classics, a wife ii^ 
Toyotamahime's condition would, even among the poor, 
be placed in a separate apartment ; and her husband, 
though it would be his duty to send twice a day to ask 
after her, would not see her, nor apparently enter her 
room until the child was presented to him to be named. 
Curiously enough the prohibition in the Japanese tale is 
' identical with that imposed by Pressina, herself a water- 
fay, the mother of Melusina, according to the romance 
of Jean d'Arras written at the end of the fourteenth 
century. Melusina and the Esthonian mermaid laid 
down another rule : they demanded a recurring period 
during which they would be free from maTka.\ \-«ct\i.i\«tt. 
' " Indian N. & Q." vo\. if. p. \ia- 



331 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 



India is not Europe ; but it cannot be thought quitq 
irrelevant to observe that much more than i" ' 
commonly secured to a bride in many parts of India.S 
For by the marriage settlement it is expressly agreedl 
that she is to go to her father's house as often a 
likes ; and if her husband objeci, she is empowered i 
the deed to bring an action against him for false im 
prisonment." 

Here we may leave the subject of the taboo. 5ome< 
thing, however, must be said on the Swan-maiden s 
divine ancestress. But first of all, let me advert to oiwd 
or two cases where divinity is ascribed without progeni-^ 
torship. The Maori heroine and her husband are wor- 
shipped. They do not appear to be considered actual 
parents of any New Zealand clan ; but the husband at all 
events would be deemed one of the same blood. Passing^ 
over to New Guinea, we find a remarkable saga i 
cerning the moon. The moon is a daughter of tlij 
earth, born by the assistance of a native of the villa^ 
of Keile, about twenty miles to the eastward of Poi 
Moresby. A long while ago, digging deeper than u 
he came upon a round, smooth, silvery, shining obj'et 
which, after he had got it out and lifted it up, greill 
rapidly larger and larger until it floated away, 
set out to search for it ; nor did he desist until one da^J 
he came upon a large pool in the river and found a 
beautiful woman bathing. On the bank lay her grass 
petticoat where she had cast it ofT. He sat down upon 
it ; and when her attention was attracted to him by hiKT 
dogs, they recognized one another. She was the mooq 
and he was the man who had dug her up out of tW 
earth ; and he claimed her as his wife. "If I i 
you," she replied, "you must die; but as you han 
touched my clothes you must die in any case, and i 
for one day I will marry you, and then you must ] 

' "Sacred Booksoflhe East," vol. swii. pji. 4;:, 475, 476; ' 
N. & q." vol. W. ■p. 147. 



I 



SWAN-WAIDENS. 323 

home to your village and prepare for death." Accord- 
ingly they were married for one day ; and the man 
then went home, made his funeral feast and died. The 
moon in due course married the sun, as it was her doom 
to do ; but his intolerable jealousies rendered their union 
so wretched that they at last agreed to see as Httle of one 
another as possible. This accounts for their conduct ever 
since. An Annamite legend relates that a woodcutter 
found some fairies bathing at a lovely fountain. He took 
possession of the raiment of one, and hid it at the 
bottom of his rice-barn. In this way he compelled its 
owner to become his w'ife ; and they lived together 
happily for some years. Their son was three years old 
when, in her husband's absence, she sold their stock of 
rice. On clearing out the barn her clothes were found. 
She bade farewell to the child, left her comb stuck in his 
collar, donned her clothes and flew away. When her 
husband returned and learned how matters stood, he 
took his son and repaired to the fountain, where happily 
they fell in with some of his wife's servants who were 
sent thither to draw water. Engaging them in con- 
versation, he caused his son to drop the comb into one 
of the water-jars. By this means his wife recognized 
them, and sent an enchanted handkerchief which enabled 
him to fiy and follow her servants to her home. After 
awhile sh; sent him and her son back to the earth, 
promising to get permission in a short time to return 
and live with them. By the carelessness of one of her 
servants, however, both father and son were dropped 
into the sea and drowned. Apprised of the catastrophe 
by ravens, the fairy transformed her servant, by way of 
punishment, into — or according to a variant, became 
herself — the morning star, while father and son became 
the evening star. And now the morning star and the 
evening star perpetually seek one another, but never 
again can they meet.' 

' Romilly, p. IJ4; Uniei, g. l^i- 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 



3»4 

Turning to the instances where ancestry is claimed, w< 
find that the chiefs of the Ati clan are descended from' 

"the peerless one" of Rara tonga. The Ar a wak Indians of 
Guiana reckon descent in the female line. One of their 
families takes its name from its foremother, the warlock's 
daughter who was provided with the dogskin mentioned 
on a previous page. Another family deduces its name 
and pedigree from an earth-spirit married to one of its 
ancestors ; biit it does not appear whether any Swan- 
maiden myth attaches to her. The fish puitin is sacred 
among the Dyaks. On no account will they eat it, be- 
cause they would be eating their relations, for they are 
descended from the lady whose first and last form w 
piiltin. In other words, the puttin is their totem. A 
family of the town of Chama on the Gold Coast claims 
like manner to be descended from the fish-woman of' 
whose story I have given an outline ; and a legend to 
the same effect is current at the neighbouring town of 
Appam ; nor in either instance do the members of the 
family dare to eat of the fish of the kind to which they-j 
believe their ancestress belonged. The totem superstition 
is manifest in the case of the Phcenician, or Babylonian, 
goddess Derceto, who was represented as woman to the' 
waist and thence downward fish. She was believed tOi 
have been a woman, the mother of Semiramis, and ti 
have thrown herself in despair into a take. Her wor-l 
shippers abstained from eating fish ; though fish 
offered to her in sacrifice, and golden fish suspended in 
her temple. Melusina was the mother of the family of 
Lusignan. She used to appear and shriek on one of the 
castle towers as often as the head of the family, or a King 
of France, was to die, or when any disaster was about tc^ 
happen to the realm, or to the town of Luxemburg, Shefl 
was also the author of certain presages of plenty or famine,^ 
Similar legends are told of the castles of Argouges aniM 
J?dnes in Normandy. If the Irish Banshee tales could be] 
minutely examined, it ia 'p'co\«ia\6 Niav ^^ms^ '«^;KS&-i«afSM 



] 

of ^ 



^H^ themselves i 
^B the Vila of t 

I 



I 



KWAN-MAIDENS, 325 

themselves into stories of supernatural ancestresses. To 
the Vila of the lUyrian story, and the fairy of Sir Francis 
Palgrave's Spanish story, noble families attribute their 
origin. A family in the Tirol is descended from the lady 
who insisted on her husband's pouring water with his 
right hand ; and the members of a noble Greek family 
have the blood of a Nereid in their veins.* 

Though the heroine of the Van Pool might never 
return to her husband, she was drawn back to earth by 
the care of her three sons, who, by means of her instruc- 
tions, became celebrated physicians. On one occasion 
slie accompanied them to a place still called Pant-y- 
Meddygon (the hollow, or dingle, of the physicians), and 
there pointed out to them the various herbs which grew 
around, and revealed their medicinal virtues. It is 
added that, in order that their knowledge should not be 
lost, the physicians wisely committed the same to 
writing for the benefit of mankind throughout all ages. 
A collection of medical recipes purporting to be this very 
work still exists in a manuscript preserved at Jesus 
College, Oxford, which is now in course of publication by 
Professor Rhys and Mr. J. Gwenogvryn Evans, and is 
known as the Red Book of Hergest. An edition of the 
" Meddygon Myddfai," as this collection is called, was 
published by the Welsh MSS. Society thirty years ago, 
with an English translation. It professes to have been 
written under the direction of Rhiwallon the Physician 
and his sons Kadwgan, Gruffydd, and Einion ; and they 
are called " the ablest and most eminent of the physicians 
of their time and of the time of Rhys Gryg, their lord, 
and the lord of Dinevor, the nobleman who kept their 
rights and privileges whole unto them, as was meet." 
This nobleman was Prince of South Wales in the early 
part of the thirteenth century ; and his monumental effigy 

' Benl, p, 13. The NereidE in niuilErn Uieek folklure are conceived 
in alt points as Swan-maidens. They fly Ihrough Itie on Vrj nWA-ti^ o** 
magical laimeDt (.Sduiiidt, y. 133). 



3l6 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES. 

is in the cathedral of St- David's. Mr. GwenogvrytrJ 
Evans, than whom there is no higher authority, is c 

opinion that the manuscript was written at the end c 
the fourteenth century — that is to say, about two hundred I 
yeais after the date at which the marriage between the J 
youth of Blaensawdde and his fairy love is alleged to J 
have taken place ; and it is believed by the editor of theJ 
published volume to be a copy of a still more ancient! 
manuscript now in the British Museum. Yet it contains I 
no reference to the legend of the Van Pool. The volume J 
in question includes a transcript of another manuscript oiM 
the work, which is ascribed in the colophon to Howel I 
the Physician, who, writing in the first person, claims to 
be " regularly descended in the male line from the said 
Einion, the son of Rhiwallon, the physician of Myddfai, 
being resident in Cilgwryd, in Gower." This recension J 
of the work is much later in date than the former. Am 
portion of it cannot be older than the end nf the fifteentha 
century ; and the manuscript from which it was printed^ 
was probably the result of accretions extending over aM 
long period of time, down to the year 1743, when it wasi 
copied " from the book of John Jones, Physician <xM 
Myddfai, the last lineal descendant of the family." Thejl 
remedies it contains, though many of ihem are antiquaB 
enough, and superstitious enough, are of various datesB 
and sources ; and, so far from being attributed to a superJ 
natural origin, they are distinctly said to "have beeilfl 
proved to be the best and most suitable for the human™ 
body through the research and diligent study of Rhi^ 
wallon " and his three sons. The negative evidence ofM 
the " Meddygon Myddfai," therefore, tends to show thafl 
the connection of the Van Pool story with the Physicianjfl 
is of comparatively recent date.' fl 

And yet it is but natural (if we may use such an e^M 
pression) that a mythical creature like the Lady of th^ 
' .See myatlideorHhe"Mei\'\^gin'iS^i\!l(ii," enlilled "OldWel^H 
Folk Medicine," "V Cymmroaoi," i<A. vk. ^ i.'Ei. ^fl 



327 

Lake should be the progenitor of an extraordinary off- 
spring. Elsewhere we have seen her sisters the totems 
of clans, the goddesses of nations, the parents of great 
families and renowned personages. Melusina gave birth 
to monsters of ugUness and evil,' and through them to a 
long line of nobles. So the heroine of the Llanberis 
legend had two sons and two daughters, all of whom 
were remarkable. The elder son became a great 
physician, ^nd all his descendants were celebrated for 
their proficiency in medicine. The second son was a 
Welsh Tubal-cain, One of the daughters invented the 
small ten-stringed harp, and the other the spinning 
wheel. " Thus," we are told, " were introduced the arts 
of medicine, manufactures, music, and woollen work ! " 
If, then, there were a family at Myddfai celebrated for 
their leechcraft, and possessed of lands and influence, as 
we know was the fact, their hereditary skill would seem to 
an ignorant peasantry to demand a supernatural origin ; 
and their wealth and material power would not refuse 
the additional consideration which a connection with the 
legend of the neighbouring pool would bring them. 

But for all that the incident of the reappearance by 
the mother to her children may have been part of the 
original story. The Carnarvonshire fairies of various 
tales analogous to that of the Van Pool are recalled by 
maternal love to the scenes of their wedded life ; and 
the hapless father hears his wife's voice outside the win- 
I dow chanting pathetically : 

" If my son shouUI feetil coW, 
' Let him wear his falher's coat ; 

If the fair one feci the colli, 
Let hct wear my petticont ! " 

Whatever he may have thought of these valuable dtrec- 

I ' A certain Gennan family usetl to excuse its faults liy altribuling 
I Iheni to a sea-fay who was reckoncil among its B.ncett.m^ ■, '^i.'Cwci^fs i 
■ ■ " Aua Schwaben," voi. i. p. 7, quodng ftie " 'LvcKcaexSa<^ GsHovSt" 



$2$ THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES, 

tioiis, they hardly seem to us sufficient to have brought 
the lady up froui *' the bottomless pool of Corwrion " to 
utter. There is more sense in the mother's song in a 
Kaffir tale. This woman was not of purely supernatural 
origin. She was born in consequence of her (human) 
mother's eating pellets given her by a bird. Married to 
a chief by whom she was greatly beloved, it was noticed 
that she never went out of doors by day. In her hus- 
band's absence her father-in-law forced her to go and 
fetch water from the river for him in the daytime. Like 
the wonun by the waters of the Rhone, she was drawn 
down into the river. That evening her child cried 
piteously ; and the nurse took it to the stream in the 
middle of the night, singing : 

** It is crying, it ii> crying, 
The cliild of Silianiba Ngcnyanga ; 
It h crying, it will not l>c |>aci(ied.' 

The mother thereupon came out of the water, and 
wailed this song as she put the child to her breast : 

** It ib crying, it in crying, 

The child </ tlic walker by moonlight. 

It was done intentionally l>y people whose names 

are unmentionable.' 
They sent her for water during the day. 
Slie tried to dip ^^ith the Uiilk-I>asket, and then it saok. 
Tried to dij) with the ladle, and then it sank. 
Tried to dip witit the mantle, and then it sank." 

The result of the information conveyed in these words 
was her ultimate recovery by her husband with the 
assistance of her mother, who was a skilful sorceress.-* 

' Namely, her husl>and's father, vsliose name she was not j>ermitted 
by etiquette to utter. See al>ove, p. 309. 

^ Tlieal, p. 54. The Teton lady wlio l>ecame a mermaid was sum- 
moned, by singing an incantation, to suckle her child ; ** Journal Amer, 
K L." vol. u, p. 137, 



3^9 

A Finnish tale belonging to the Cinderella group 
represents the heroine as changed into a reindeer-cow by 
an ogress who takes her place as wife and mother. But 
her babe will not be comforted ; so a woman, to whose 
care he is committed, carries him into the forest, and 
sings the following incantation : 

" Lillle blue eyes, litile red-fell, 
Come Ihou Ihine own son lo suckle, 
Feed whom thou hast given birth lo I 
or that cannibo! nought will he. 
Never drinks from that bloodsucker ; 
For her brents to him are loathsome, 
Nor can hunger drive him lo Iheni." 

The reindeer cannot withstand this appeal. She casts her 
skin, and comes in human form to suckle her child. This 
results, after two repetitions in the husband's burning the 
reindeer hide and clasping her in his arms. But, like 
PeleuS| he has to hold her fast in spite of various trans- 
formations, until he has overcome the charm and has 
her once more in her pristine shape I ' 

It was not strength so much as boldness and tenacity 
that conquered here. In the Kaffir story the husband's 
first attempt to pull his wife out of the water by sheer 
force failed. Thus, too, in one of the Tirolese stories 
already mentioned the husband lies in wait for his wife 
when she returns, as usual, to comb her little girl's 
hair on a Saturday. He catches her by the arm as 
she enters ; and she tells him that if he can hold 
her for a little while she must stay : otherwise she will 
never come again. All his strength is, however, too 
little to struggle successfully with her. The mother's 
visits to her children are, indeed, a frequent sequel to the 
story ; and occasionally the tie which compels her to 
return is taken advantage of by the forsaken husband to 
obtain possession of her again. But fraud, not force, is 



330 THE SCIENCE OF FAtRY TALES. 

the raoana employed, as in the Lapp story of the Maiden 
out of the Sea, where the mermaid's clothes arc oncc 
more coiifiscatud. In a legend of Llyn y Dy warchen {the 
Lake of the Sod), not very far from Beddgelert, the 
water-nymph subscqiienlly appears to her husband, con- 
versing with him from a floating turf while he stands on 
the shore. Here the motive of the reappearance is the 
unusual one of conjugal, rather than parental, aPfection,' 

I must not omit to add that the first Sunday in 
August is kept in the neighbourhood of the Van Pool as 
the anniversary of the fairy's return to the lake. It is 
believed that annually on that day a commotion takes 
place in the lake ; its waters boil to herald the approach I 
of the lady with her oxen. It was, and stiti is (though in 
decreasing force), the custom for large numbers of people 
to make a pilgrimage to witness the phenomenon ; and it 
is said that the lady herself appears in mermaid form 
Upon the surface, and combs her tresses, I have little , 
doubt that in this superstition we have the relic of a i 
religious festival in honour of an archaic divinity whose j 
abode was in the lake. She has, perhaps, only escaped 1 
being an enchanted princess by being a Welsh rather 1 
than a German goddess. If the mermaid form be of I 
genuine antiquity,— about which I confess to a lurking I 
suspicion, — it is another bond with the Scottish stories, 
with Melusina and with Derceto,' 

We have now considered the principal points of the | 
myth. The feather-robe, or skin, we found absent from all J 
its more archaic examples. There, no change of form I 
occurs, or when it does occur it is accomplished by simple I 
transformation. When present, the robe is a mere symbol i 
of the lady's superhuman nature, or else the result of^J 

' I'owlion, p. 55 ; ■' Cymru Fu," p. 474, 

' " V Cynimrodor," vul. iv. p. 177, voL vi, p. 203. I have 
mnik inquiries al Vslrnilgynlnis, in ihe neighliourhooil o( the l&ke, tl 
Ktulti of which conliiiD tlic Klalcrocnu of rrarcBsor Rhys' coiieipa 
dealt s but I have faiW W tMt aaj tan^wwfamMJiao- 



331 

enchantcnent. These are more recent types, and are all, 
or nearly all, mdrchen. In the later sagas, such as those 
of Melusina and the Lady of the Van Pool, it is again 
absent ; though relics of the change of form frequently 
remain. 

Capture of the Swau-niaiden proper is effected by theft 
of her robe : in other types either by main force, or more 
frequently with her consent, more or less willingly given, 
or by her own initiative. 

We then passed to the more important subject of the 
taboo. The taboo, strictly speaking, only appears where 
the peltry is absent. Several of its forms correspond 
with rules of antique etiquette. Others recall special 
points connected with savage life, such as the dislike of 
iron and steel, and the prejudice against the mention of 
a personal name. Other prohibitions are against re- 
proaching the wife with her origin, against reminding 
her of htr former condition, or against questioning her 
conduct or crossing her will. But whether the taboo be 
present or absent, the loss of the wife is equally inevitable, 
equally foreseen from the beginning. It is the doom of 
the connection between a simple man and a superhuman 
female. Even where the feather-robe is absent the 
taboo is not always found. Among savages the marriage- 
bond is often very loose : notably in the more backward 
races. And among these the superhuman wife's excuse 
for flight is simpler ; and sometimes it is only an arbitrary 
exercise of \vill. Tlie taboo groivs up with the advance 
in civilization. 

Lastly, we considered the Swan-maiden as divine 
ancestress. We found her resident in heaven, we found 
her worshipped, we found her as the totem of a clan. 
The totemistic stories are widely spread, — so widely, 
indeed, as to afford a presumption that we have in them 
a clue to the whole meaning of the myth. For not only 
have we the complete totemistic foTra, a,=. mwowj, "Cos. 
\ Dyzks and the tribes of the Gold Coas\. -, \ro.v. -wft '«a.^^. -00^ 



332 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 

superstition fading through the goddess Derceto into 
modern sagas of the supernatural mother of a family, 
who to her sometimes owe extraordinary powers, and 
over whose fate she continually watches. 

Here, then, our study of this beautiful myth must close. 
I am far from suggesting that the subject is exhausted. 
On the contrary, it is so large and so complex that I 
have rigidly abstained from anything more than a very 
imperfect examination of its principal features. On some 
of the points here partially discussed I shall have some- 
thing more to add in our final chapter, when discussing 
certain theories on the fairy beliefs. 



CHAPTER XII. 



Relrospecl — The fnities of Celtic and Teutonic races of the same 
nature as the supecnatucal beings celebtated in the traditions of 
other nalioDS — ^AU superstitions of supernatural beings explicable 
by reference to the conceptions of savagco — Liebtecht's Ghost 
Theoiy of some Swan-niniden inyihs — MacRilchie's Finn Theory — 
The amount of truth in them— Both founded on too narrow an 
iniluclion — Conclusion. 

We have in the preceding pages examined some of the 
principal groups of tales and superstitions relating to 
Fairies proper, — that is to say, the Elves and Fays of 
Celtic and Teittonic tradition. 

Dealing in the first instance with the sagas found in 
this country, or in Germany, our investigations have by 
no means ended there ; for in order to understand these 
sagas, we have found occasion to refer again and again to 
the miirchen, as well as the sagas, of other European 
nations, — nay, to the traditions of races as wide apart from 
our own in geographical position and culture, as the 
South Sea Islanders, the Ainos, and the Aborigines of 
America. And we have found among peoples in the 
most distant parts of the globe similar stories and super- 
stitions. Incidentally, too, we have learned something of 
the details of archaic practices, and have found the two 
great divisions of Tradition, — belief and practice, — in- 
ieparably interwoven. 

I do not pretend to have touched upon all the myths 



334 THE SCEESCF. OF FAIRV TALES. 

referring to Fairies, as thus strictly defined ; and the 
Kobolds and Puck, the Household Spirits and Mischievous 
Demons, have scarcely been so much aa mentioned. Want 
of space forbids our going further. It is hoped, how- 
ever, that enough has been said, not merely to give the 
readers an idea of the Fairy Mythology correct as far as it 
goes, but, beyond that, to vindicate the method pursued 
in the investigation, as laid down in our second chapter, 
by demonstrating the essential identity of human 
imagination all over the world, and by tracing the stories 
with which we have been dealing to a more barbarous 
state of society and a more archaic plane of thought. It 
now remains, therefore, to recall what we have ascer- 
tained concerning the nature and origin of the Fairies, 
and briefly to consider two rival theories. 

We started from some of the ascertained facts of savage 
thought and savage life. The doctrine of Spirits formed 
our first proposition. This we defined to be the belief 
held by savages that man consists of body and spirit ; that 
it is possible for the spirit to quit the body and roam at 
will in different shapes about the world, returning to the 
body as to its natural home ; that in the spirit's absence 
the body sleeps, and that it dies if the spirit return not ; 
further, that the universe swarms with spirits embodied 
and disembodied, because everything in the world has a 
spirit, and all these spirits are analogues of the human 
spirit, having the same will and acting from the same 
motives ; and that if by chance any of these spirits be 
ejected from its body, it may continue to exist without a 
body, or it may find and enter a new body, not necessarily 
such an one as it occupied before, but one quite different. 
The doctrine of Transformation was another of our 
premises : that is to say, the belief held by savages in 
the possibility of a change of form while preserving the 
same identity. A third premise was the belief in Witch- 
craft, or the power of certain persons to cause the trans- 
formations just mentioned, and to perform by means ol 






CONCLUSION. 



335 



spells, or symbolic actions and mystical words, various 
other feats beyond ordinary human power. And there 
were others to which I need not now refer, all of 
which were assumed to be expressed in the tales 
and songs, and in the social and poHtical institutions, 
of savages. Along with these, we assumed the hypo- 
thesis of the evolution of civilization from savagery. 
By this I mean that just as the higher orders of animal 
and vegetable life have been developed from germs which 
appeared on this planet incalculable ages ago ; so during 
a past of unknown length the civilization of the highest 
races of men has been gradually evolving through the 
various stages of savagery and barbarism up to what we 
know it to-day ; and so every nation, no matter how 
barbarous, has arisen from a lower stage than that in 
which it is found, and is on its way, if left to its natural 
processes, to something higher and better. This is an 
hypothesis which does not, of course, exclude the possi- 
bility of temporary and partial relapses, such as we know 
have taken place in the history of every civilized country, 
any more thau it e.-ccludes the possibility of the decay and 
death of empires ; but upon the whole it claims that 
progress and not retrogression is the law of human 
society. The different stages of this progress have 
everywhere left their mark on the tales and songs, the 
sayings and superstitions, the social, religious and political 
institutions — in other words, on the belief and practice — 
of mankind. 

Starting from these premises, we have examined five 
groups, or cycles, of tales concerning the Fairy Myth- 
ology. We have found Fairyland very human in its 
organization. Its inhabitants marry, sometimes among 
themselves, sometimes into mankind. They have 
children born to them ; and they require at such times 
female assistance. They steal children from men, and 
leave their own miserable brats in exchange ; they steal 
I women, and sometimes le^v? in their stead blocks of , 



336 



THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. 



wood, animated hy magical art, or sometimes one of! 
themselves. In the former case the animation does not 
usually last very long, and the women is then supposed 
to die. Their females sometimes in turn become captive 
to men. Unions thus formed are, however, not lasting, 
until the husband has followed the wife to her own 
home, and conquered his right to her afresh by some 
great adventure. This is not always in the story : pre- 
sumably, therefore, not always possible. On the other 
hand, he who enters Fairyland and partakes of fairy 
food is spell-bound : he cannot return— at least for many 
years, perhaps for ever — to the land of men. Fairies 
are grateful to men for benefits conferred, and resentful 
for injuries. They never fail to reward those who do 
them a kindness ; but their gifts usually have conditions 
attached, which detract from their value and sometimes 
become a source of loss and misery. Nor do they forget 
to revenge themselves on those who offend them ; and 
to watch them, when they do not desire to be manifested, 
is a mortal offence. Their chief distinction from men is 
in their unbounded magical powers, whereof wc have had 
several illustrations. They make things seem other than 
they are ; they appear and disappear at will ; they make 
long time seem short, or short time long ; they change 
their own forms ; they cast spells over mortals, and keep 
them spell-bound for ages. 

All these customs and all these powers are asserted of 
the Fairies properly so called. And when we look at 
the superstitions of other races than the Celts and 
Teutons, to which our inquiries have been primarily 
directed, we find the same things as.serted of all sorts of 
creatures. Deities, ancestors, witches, ghosts, as well as 
animals of every kind, are endowed by the belief of 
nations all over the world with poivers precisely similar 
to those of the Fairies, and with natures and social 
organizations correspond\u% with those of men. These 
beliefs can only be refeitei vo \.\vft ^m.^ ^it«B-'a. ^fc-'Aia^ 



1 



CO^'CLUS10N, 



337 



fairy superstitions ; and all arise out of the doctrine of 
spirits, the doctriue of transformations, and the belief in 
witchcraft, held by savage Sribes. 

" But here I must, at the risk of some few repetitions, 
notice a theory on the subject of the Swan-maiden myth 
enunciated by Liebrecht. That distinguished writer, iu 
his book on Folklore, devotes a section to the consider- 
ation of the group which has occupied us in the last two 
chapters, and maintains, with his accustomed wealth of 
allusion and his accustomed ingenuity, that some at 
least of the Swan-maJdens are nothing more nor less than 
ghosts of the departed, rescued from the kingdom of 
darkness for a while, but bound to return thither after 
a short respite here with those whom they love. Now 
it is clear that if Swan-maiden tales are to be resolved 
into ghost stories, all other supernatural beings, gods and 
devils as well as fairies and ghosts, will turn out to b^ 
nothing but spectres of the dead. A summary of his 
argnmcnt, and of the reasons for rejecting it, will, there- 
fore, not only fill up any serious gaps in our discussion 
of the main incidents of the myth in question ; but it 
will take a wider sweep, and include the whole subject 
of the present volume. 

His argument, as I understand it, is based, first, on the 
terms of the taboo. The object of the taboo, he thinks, 
is to avoid any remark being made, any question being 
asked, any object being presented, which would remind 
these spirits of their proper home, and awaken a longing 
they cannot withstand to return. There is an old 
Teutonic legend of a knight who came in a little boat 
drawn by a swan to succour and wed a distressed lady, 
on whom he laid a charge never to ask whence he came, 
or in what country he was born. When she breaks this 
commandment the swan reappears and fetches him away. 

I So the night mure- wife I as we have seen, in one of the 
tales vanishes on being asked how she bfcc-a.tft.fe -a. to^V 

Lmure. Again, tiie fay of Aigouf^o^ dBa^^ea.^^ o^ \;s\a,. 



338 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. * 

name of Death being mentioned in her presence. A fair 
maiden in an Indian tale, who is found by the hero in 
the neighbourhood of a fountain, and bears the name of 
Bheki (Frog), forbids her husband ever to let her see 
water. When she is thirsty and begs him for water, the 
doom is fulfilled on his bringing it to her. A similar 
tale may be added from Ireland, though Liebrecht does 
not mention it. A man who lived near Lough Sheelin, 
in County Meath, was annoyed by having his corn eaten 
night after night. So he sat up to watch ; and to his 
astonishment a number of horses came up out of the lake 
driven by a most beautiful woman, whom he seized and 
induced to marry him. She made the stipulation that 
she was never to be allowed to see the lake again ; and 
for over twenty years she lived happily with him, till 
one day she strolled out to look at the haymakers, and 
caught sight of the distant water. With a loud cry she 
flew straight to it, and vanished beneath the surface.' 

Liebrecht's next reason is based upon the place where 
the maiden is found, — a forest, or a house in the forest. 
In this connection he refers to the tavern, or drinking- 
shop, on the borders of the forest, where Wild Edric 
found his bride, and points to a variant of the story, also 
given by Walter Map, in which she is said, in so many 
words, to have been snatched from the dead.^ The 
forest, he fancies, is the place of the dead, the under- 
world. Lastly, he gives numerous legends of the 
Middle Ages, — some of which found their way into the 
"Decameron," that great storehouse of floating tales, 
and other literary works of imagination, as well as into 
chronicles, — and instances from more modern folklore, 
wherein a mistress or wife dies, or seems to die, and is 
buried, yet is afterwards recovered from the tomb, and 
lives to wed, if a maiden, and to bear children. He 
supports these by references to the vampire superstitions, 

' Liebrecht, p. '^^•, " V . "L. "5QiVMY^^.V vol. vii. p. 312. 
* Map, Dist. w. c. 10. 



CONCLUSION. 33^ 

and to the case of Osiris, who returned after death to 
ilsis and became the father ofHorus. And, foUomng 
Uhland, he compares the sleepthorn, with which Odin 
pricked the Valkyrie, Brynhild, and so put her into a 
magic slumber, to the stake which was driven into the 
corpse suspected of being a vampire, to prevent its rising 
any more from the grave and troubling the living. 

Now it may bu admitted that there is much that is 
plausible, much even that is true, in this theory. It 
might be urged in its behalf that (as we have had more 
one occasion in the course of this ivork to know) 
Fairyland is frequently not to be distinguished from the 
world of the dead. Time is not known there ; and the 
same consequences of permanent abode follow upon 
eating the food of the dead and the food of the fairies. 
Further, when living persons are stolen by fairies, mere 
■dead images are sometimes left in their place. These 
arguments, and such as these, might well bt; added to 
Liebrecht's ; and it would be hard to say that a for- 
midable case was not made out. And yet the theory 
fails to take account of some rather important consider- 
ations. Perhaps the strongest point made^a point 
-insisted on with great power — is that of the taboo. The 
case of the lady of Argouges is certainly very striking, 
gh, taken by itself, it is far from conclusive. It 
might very well be that a supernatural being, in re- 
maining here, would be obliged to submit to mortality, 
contrary perhaps to its nature ; and to remind it of this 
might fill it with an irresistible impulse to fly from so 
horrible a fate. I do not say this is the explanation, but 
it is as feasible as the other. In the Spanish story it was 

lot the utterance of the name of Death, but of a holy 
■name — the name of Mary — which cocnpelled the wife to 
leave her husband. Here she was unquestionably re- 
garded by Spanish orthodoxy, not as a spirit of the dead, 

ut as a foul fiend, able to assume what bodvV^ l<«wx\\. 

'ould, but bound to none. The 'pioUv^i'v'Lvoxi oS.\ac^«.':j -^ 



340 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY TALES. ■ 

to the bride's former home may ariso not so much from I 
a desire to avoid the recollection, as from the resentment V 
of impertinent curiosity, which we have seen arouses 1 
excessive annoyance in supernatural bosoms. The re- . 
sentment of equally impertinent reproaches, or a remi- 
niscence of savage etiquette that avoids the direct 
name, may account at feast as well for other forms of the 
taboo. Liebrecht suggests most ingeniously that assault 
and battery must strike the unhappy elf still more , 
strongly than reproaches, as a difference between her 
present and former condition, and remind her still more 1 
importunately of her earlier home, and that this explains I 
the prohibition of the " three causeless bloivs." It may baJ 
so, though there is no hint of this in the stories ; and yed 
her former condition need not have been that of a ghos^ 
of the dead, nor her earlier home the tomb. By far them 
greater number of these stories represent the maiden as I 
a ivater-nymph j but it is the depths of the earth rather* 
than the water which are commonly regarded as thQ.1 
dwelling-place of the departed. Moreover, the correyfl 
spondence I have tried to point out between the etiquett«H 
of various peoples and the taboo, — such, for instance, xgl 
the ban upon a husband's breaking into his wife's se^^fl 
elusion at a delicate moment in his family history,— wouldj 
remain, on Liebrecht's theory, purely accidental. NoTB 
ivould the theory account for the absence of a taboo inB 
the lower savagery, nor for the totemistic character ofj 
the lady, nor, least of all, for the peltry which is then 
most picturesque, if not the most important, incident irj 
this group of tales. S 

In fact, the only direct evidence for Liebricht's conteqv 
tion is the variant of Wild Edric's legend alluded to b« 
Map. His words are, speaking of Aluoth, Edric's soiql 
a great benefactor of the see of Hereford ; " The ma^B 
whose mother vanished into air openly in the sight c^B 
many.^ persons, bsrng radvgnant at her husband's reJ 
pJbaching her that h& Wi catiuai. Vft\ o'S. \s^ W'aa £e9^I 



CONCLUSION. 



341 



among the dead {quod earn a mortuis rapmssrt)." Upon 
this it is to be observed that the expression here made 
use of cannot be regarded as one which had accidentally 
dropped out of the narrative previously given ; but it is 
an allusion to an independent and inconsistent version, 
given in forgetfulness that the writer had already in 
another part of his work related the story at large and 
with comments. There he had explicitly called Alnoth 
— the heir and offspring of a devil {dmmon\ and had 
expressed his wonder that such a person should have 
given up his whole inheritance (namely, the manor of 
Ledbury North, which he made over to the see of Here- 
ford in gratitude for the miraculous cure of his palsy) to 
Christ in return for his restored health, and spent the 
rest of his life as a pilgrim. Medieval writers (especially 
ecclesiastics) were in a difficulty in describing fairies. 
They looked upon them as having an objective existence ; 
and yet they knew not how to daasify them. Fairies were 
certainly neither departed saints nor holy angels. Beside 
these two kinds of spirits, the only choice left was between 
devils and ghosts of the wicked dead, or, at most, of 
the dead who had no claims to extraordinary goodness. 
They did not beheve in any other creatures which could 
be identified with these mysterious elves. It is no 
ivonder, therefore, if they were occasionally perplexed, 
occasionally inconsistent, sometimes denouncing them as 
devils, at other times dismissing them as ghosts.' 
This is what seems to have happened to Map. In the 

' The seel of ihe Cabalists, iniUeil , believeii in Ihe existence of spirits 
' of nature, cnilvulinients or representatives of the four elements, which 
ilhey called respectively gnomes, sylphs, salamanders, and ondines. To 
this strange sect some of ihe savage opinions on the suLject of spirits 
(seem to have heen tiansmitteil in a philosophical form from classical 
antiquity. They laught that it was possible for the philosopher by 
austerity and study to rise to intercourse with these elemental spirits, 
and even to obtain them in marriage. But the orthodost te^j'sAeA.'iiR. 
Cabalists as magicians and lhi:ir spirits as 5cni\ vamWi. 'iitt Va'Jwi-* 



7 of Salfona 



" TOl. L p 



542 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRT TALES. 

two chapters immediately preceding, he has given two 
legends illustraiing each horn of the dilemma. One of 
the^ relates the marriage of Henno With-the-Teeth, 
who found a lovely maiden in a grove on the coast of 
Normandy. She wa> sitting alone, apparelled in ro3ral 
silk, and weeping. Her beaut}' and her tears attracted 
the gallant knight, to whom, in respond to his questions, 
she told a cock-and-bull stoiy about her father having 
brought her. all unwilling as she was, by sea to be 
married to the King of France ; but ha\'ing been driven 
by a storm on the shore, she said she had landed, and 
then her father had taken ad\'antage of a sudden change 
of wind to sail away, leaving her to her fate. Henno 
was an easy conquest : he took her home and married 
her. Unluckily, however, he had a mother who had 
her suspicions. She noticed that her fair daughter-in- 
law, though she went often to church, always upon some 
trumpery excuse came late, so as to avoid being sprinkled 
with holy water, and as regularly left before the conse- 
cration of the elements. So this virtuous old vixen 
determined to watch one Sunday morning ; and she 
discovered that after Henno had gone to church, his wife, 
transformed into a serpent, entered a bath, and in a little 
while, issuing upon a cloth which her maid had spread 
out for her, she tore it into pieces with her teeth before 
resuming human form. The maid afterwards went 
through the like performance, her mistress waiting upon 
her. All this was in due course confided to Henno, who, 
in company with a priest, unexpectedly burst in the next 
time upon his wife and her servant, and sprinkled them 
with holy water. Mistress and maid thereupon with a 
great yell bounded out through the roof and disappeared. 
Clearly these ladies were devils : no other creatures 
with self-respect would be guilty of such transformations 
and such constant disregard of the proprieties at church. 
Ghosts get their tutu iu Map's other narrative. It con- 
cerns a man whose N\'\fe Wd ^\^^, M.\.^\ "SiQ^xQ^vtv^ long 



CONCLUSION. 343 

for her death, he found her one night in a deep and 
solitary dale amid a number of women. With great 
ioy he seized her, and, carrying her off, lived with her 
again for many years and had a numerous progeny. Not 
a few of her descendants were living when Map wrote, 
and were known as the children of the dead woman. 
This, of course, is not a Swan-maiden story at all. At 
the end of Chapter V, I have referred to some similar 
tales ; and what we learned during our discussion of the 
subject of Changelings may lead us to suspect that we 
have here in an imperfect form a story of the exchange 
of an adult woman for a lifeless image, and her recovery 
from the hands of her ravishers. This is by no means 
the same plot as that of the stories recounted by Liebrecht 
in which the wife or the betrothed is rescued from the 
grave. Those stories, at least in warm climates where 
burials are hurried, and in rude ages when medical skill 
is comparatively undeveloped, are all within the bounds 
of possibility. There does not appear in them any trace 
of mythology,— hardly even of the supernatural ; and he 
would be a bold man who would deny that a substratum 
of fact may not underlie some of them. To establish 
their relationship with the group we are now considering, 
links of a much more evident character are wanting. 
The fact that they are traditional is not of itself sufficient. 
The fairy of the Forest of Dean had not revived after 
death, or supposed death ; nor had she been recovered 
from supernatural beings who had stolen her away. 
Map's account, to whatever his expression yrom the dead 
may point, is inconsistent with either the one or the 
other. Rather she was stolen from her own kindred, to 
become the wife of him who had won her by his oivn 
right arm. 

But a single instance, and that instance either incon- 
sistent with the analogous traditions, or unable to supply 
a cogent or consistent explanation of them, is not a 
a very safe basis for a theory. YI\\a.l i.^ 'Vs. \\a«!o. -si^vii-a. "■*. 



344 



THE SCIEhXE OF FAIRY TALES. 



is inconsistent even wilh the theory itself? Indeed, 
it were consistent w-ith the theory, we might match it 
with another instance wholly irreconcilable. Mikailo | 
Ivano\-itch in the Russian ballad marries a Swan-maiden, 
who, unlike some of (he ladies just mentioned, insists 
upon being first baptized into the Christian faith. She I 
makes the stipulation that when the one of them dies the J 
other shall go living into the grave with the dead, and I 
there abide for three months. She herself dies. Mikailo ] 
enters the grave with her, and there conquers a dragon 
which comes to feast on the dead bodies. The dragon is i 
compelled to fetch the waters of life and death, bv means 
of which the hero brings his dead love back to life, ] 
Marya, the White Swan, however, proved herself so ] 
ungrateful that after awhile she took another husband, 
and twice she acted the part of Delilah to Mikailo. The j 
third time she tried it he was compelled in self-defence to 1 
put an end to her wiles by cutting off her head. This is 1 
honest, doivnright death. There is no mistaking it. But [ 
then it is impassible that Marya, the White Swan, was 
a mere ghost filched from the dead and eager to return. 
Yet the story of Marya is equally a Swan-maiden story, 
and is ju^t as good to build a theorv on as Map's variant I 
of Wild Edric 

In replying, however, to the arguments of so learned I 
and acute a writer as Liebrecht, it is not enough to point J 
out these distinctions and inconsistencies : it is 
enough to show that the terms of the taboo do not 1 
warrant the construction he has put upon them, nor j 
that he has failed to account for very significant incidents. 
- If he has mistaken the meaning of the legends, we should I 
be able to make clear the source of his error. It arises, i 
I hold, from an imperfect apprehension of the archaic j 
philosophy underlying the narratives. Liebrccht's c 
pari^ons are, with one exception, limited to European 1 
variants. His premises were thus too narrow to admit of'| 
' Ha^ood, p, 214- 



CONCLUSION. 



345 



his making valid deductions. Perhaps even yet we are 
hardly in a position to do this ; but at al! events the 
sources of possible error are diminished by the wider 
area we are able to survey, and from the evidence of 
which we reason. We have compared the stories, both 
mediaeval and modern, mentioned by Liebrecht, with 
miirchen and sagas told among nations outside European 
influence in various degrees of civilization, down to the 
savagery of Kaffirs and Dyaks. We have succeeded in 
classifying their differences, and in spite of them we have 
found all the tales in substantial agreement. They are 
all built on the same general plan ; the same backbone 
of thought runs through them ; and between them all 
there is no greater divergence than that which in the 
physical realm separates mammal from bird, or bird from 
reptile. It is inevitable to conclude that even the most 
recently discovered folktale of them has come to us from 
a distant period when our forefathers were in the same 
rude state as Dyaks and South Sea Islanders, No actual 
adventure of Wild Edric or Raymond of Lusignan 
gave rise to these stories. English patriot and Burgun- 
dian Count were only the names whereon they fastened, 
— the mountains which towered above the plain and 
gathered about their heads the vapours already floating 
in the atmosphere. We must therefore go back far 
beyond the Middle Ages to loam in what manner we are 
to understand these stories, — -back to the state of savagery 
whence the inhabitants of Europe had long emerged 
when Map and Gervase wrote, but of which the relics 
linger among us even yet. 

The necessarily meagre exposition of some of the most 
salient characteristics of savage thought with which we 
started has been illustrated and its outlines filled in to 
some extent in the course of the subsequent discussions. 
I need not, therefore, do more than draw attention as 
briefly as possible to those characteristics that are 
relevant .here. First and foremost, we have found some 



54^ THE SCIEMCS Or rAIRY TALES. 

at the Swan-mziden tales boldly processing to account for 
the worship of totems ; and so thoroughly does totemism 
appear to be ingrained in the mt'tfa that there i:^ some 
reasoo for thinking that here we have a clue to the 
myth's origin and meaning. But the inteUect to which 
totemism is a credible theon- draws no line of demarca- 
tion between humanity and the life and con«cio>usnes» J 
it recognises in the whole endrcling imiverse. To it, I 
accordingly, a story of union between a man and a fish, \ 
a swan or a serpent, invoh-es no difficulty. When 
adi-ancing knowledge, and with knowledge repulaon 
from sudi a story, begins to threaten it, another belief 
advances to its defence. For nothing is eaaer to 
creatures as clever as the lower animals than a change 
of form. They can, whenever they please, assume the 
appearance of man or woman : it is as natural to them 
as the shape under which they are usually seen. Again, 
the life that swarms about the savage philosopher does 
not always manifest itself visibly. It is often unseen. 
The world is filled with spirits, of whom some have 
inhabited human bodies, others have not. To the savage 
they are all alike ; for those who have not hitherto . 
inhabited human bodies may do so at will, or may J 
inhabit other bodies, either animal or vegetable, and I 
those who have once done so may do so again. I 

All these — Totemism, the equality and essential I 
identity of nature between man and all other objects I 
in the universe, the doctrine of Transformation, the I 
doctrine of Spirits — are phases of savage thought, every I 
one of which has been incorporated in the myth of the I 
Swan-maidens, and every one of which, except one special ■ 
and very limited development of the doctrine of Spirits, M 
is ignored in Liebrecht's theory. The theory is, indeed, I 
an admirable illustration of the danger of reasoning! 
without a sufficiently wide area of induction. Liebrecht's ■ 
mistake on the present occasion was twofold : he only-1 
dealt with one or, at most, two types of the myth ^ an^l 



CONCLUSION. 347 

he ignored the savage variants. Had he taken into 
consideration other types — such as Hasan, the Marquis 
of the Sun, the Star's Daughter ; — had he heen aware 
of the savage variants all over the world, he would not have 
formed a theory so inconsistent with the facts, and so 
little fitted to solve the problems propounded, not merely 
by the phenomena of the Swan-maiden group, but by 
those of other tales in which supernatural beings intervene. 

In reasoning by induction, the greater the number of 
facts taken into account, the greater the probability of 
sound reasoning ; and therefore the greater the number of 
facts a theory will explain, the more likely it is to be true. 
Had Liebrecht's theory touched only the Swan-maiden 
group, it would have been more convenient to discuss it 
in the last chapter. But inasmuch as its truth would 
involve much wider issues, it seemed better to reserve it 
to be dealt with here. For if the theory be valid for 
Melusina, the Lady of the Van Pool, and other water- 
nymphs, it is valid also for the " water-woman " who, in 
a Transylvanian story, dwelt in a lake in the forest 
between Mehburg and Reps. She had two sons, whose 
father was a man, and the younger of whom became king 
of that land. But when the Saxon immigration took 
place the incomers cut down the wood ; the lake dried 
up, and as it dried up, the lives of the water-spirit and 
her son gradually sank lower and lower, and at last were 
extinguished with the extinction of the lake.' Now I will 
venture to say that this story is to be explained satisfac- 
torily on no theory yet broached, unless it be the theory 
that we have in it a survival of the savage doctrine of 
Spirits. Least of aU it is to be explained by any adaptation 
of what I may call the Ghost theory, — namely, that the 
water-spirit and her son were already the spirits of dead 
human beings. 

Leaving this one example of the value of Liebrecht's 

theory, as applied to water-spirits, to stand for all, I turn 

' Miillec, p. 33. 



348 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRV TALES, 

to another order of beings with supernatural powers I 
referred to several times in the foregoing pages : I mean 
Witches. I adduced in Chapter X. a Tirolese tale, 
variant of the Melusina type, wherein the wife was 
witch. It will have been obvious to every reader that | 
the tale is simply that of Cupid and Psyche with the I 
parts reversed ; and I might urge that Cupid and the I 
witch were beings of precisely the same nature. Waiving 
this for the moment, however, no one will deny that the I 
witch takes the place of the Swan-maiden, or fairy, in other I 
stories of the group. But perhaps it may be suggested I 
that the name witch (Angana, Hexe) has got into the J 
story by accident ; and that not a witch in our sei 
the word, but a ghost from the dead, is really meant. \ 
There might be something to be said for this if there | 
were any substantial distinction to be made between 1 
ghosts and witches and fairies. In the tales and super- 
stitions discussed in the present volunte we have found \ 
no distinction. Whether it be child-stealing, transforma- 
tion, midnight meetings, possession and gift of enchanted 
objects, spell- binding, or whatever function, or habit, or 
power be predicted of one, it will be found to be common 
to the three, I conclude, therefore, that they a 
three of the same nature. This is what a consideration 
of the superstitions of savages ii'ould lead me to expect. 
The belief in fairies, ghosts, and witches is a survival of j 
those superstitions. It is, of course, not found in equal 
coherence, equal strength of all its parts, equal logic {if I j 
may so express it) everywhere. We must not be sur-T 
prised if, as it is gradually penetrated by the growing,! 
forces of civilization, it becomes fragmentary, and the^ 
attributes of these various orders of supernatural beings 
begin to be differentiated. They are never completely 
so ; and the proof of this is that what is at one place, at 
one time, or by one people, ascribed to one order, is at J 
another place, at another time, or by another peoplcjl 
ascribed to another order. The nature of the classicqll 



CONCLUSION. 



349 



deities was identical too ; and hence Cupid and the witch 
of the Tirolese tale are the masculine and feminine 
counterparts of the same conception. 

Lastly, 3 few words must be expended on a totally 
different theory lately put forward by Mr. MacRitchie. 
This theory is not altogether a new one ; it has been 
before the world for many years. But Mr. MacRitchie has, 
first in " The A rchieo logical Review," and since then more 
elaborately in a separate book, entitled "The Testimony 
of Tradition,'' worked it out and fortified it with an 
array of arguments philological, historical, topographical, 
and traditional. He claims to have established that the 
fairies of the Celtic and Teutonic races are neither more 
nor less than the prehistoric tribes whom they conquered 
and drove back, and whose lands they now possess. He 
identifies these mysterious beings with the Picts of Scot- 
land, the Feinne of the Scottish Highlands and of Ireland, 
and the Finns and Lapps of Scandinavia, And he suggests 
that the Eskimo, the Ainos, and I know not what other 
dwarfish races, are relics of the same people ; while Santa 
Klaus, the patron saint of children, is only a tradition of 
the wealthy and beneficent character borne by this ill-used 
folk. Primarily his arguments are concerned with Scot- 
land and Ireland. He builds much on the howes or 
barrows, called in Scotland Picts' houses, which in both 
countries bear the reputation of being the haunt of fairies 
or dwarfs, and some of which seem to have been in fact 
dwelling-places. He quotes Dr. Karl Bhnd to show that 
Finns intermarried with the Shetlanders, and that they 
were believed to come over in the form of seals, casting 
aside their sealskins when they landed. In this connection 
he relates how the Fiim ivomen were captured by taking 
possession of their sealskins, without which they could 
not get a\vay from their captors. He also shows that 
illimitable riches and magical powers were ascribed to 
the Picts and to the Finns, and that the Lapps were 
_ pre-eniineuC la witchcraft. 



r 
r 



THE SCIENCE Or TJtltY TALES. 



I shall leave it to Celtic [scholai^ to deal 
MacRitchie's remarkable etymolo^es and with his 
torical arguments, coa&aiog myxii to one or two 
obs«rvadoa$ on the ttaditkiDal aspect of the theory. 
Now I shoold be the last to under\*alue any traces of 
history to be found in tradition. I have elsewhere drawn 
altentioa to the importance of the study of this element 
in folk-tales ; ' and I am quite ready to admit that 
nothing is more likely than the transfer to the mythical 
beings of Celtic superstition of some features derivi 
from alien races. Savages and barbarians 
habit of imputing to strangers and foes in greati] 
extended measure the might of witchcraft they claini'l 
for themselves. And the wider the differences between 
themselves and the foreigners, the more mysterious 
them are the habits and appearance of the latter, and the 
more powerful do they believe them. All this might 
account for many details that we are told concerning 
the dwarfs, the Picts, the Finns, or by whatever other 
names the elvish race may have been known to Scol 
and Irishmen. But further than this I cannot go with' 
Mr. MacRitchie. I hold his error, like that of Liebrecht 
already discussed, to be founded on too narrow an induc- 
tion. This volume will have been written in vain, as it 
appears that for Mr. MacRitchie the vastly more important 
works of Dr. Tylor and Mr, Andrew Lang have been 
written in vain, unless I have made it clear that the 
myths of nations all over the world follow one general 
law and display common characteristics. I am not 
astonished to find the Shetland tale of marriage with 
a seal-woman reproduced on the Gold Coast and among 
the Dyaks of Borneo. But Mr. MacRitchie ought to be 
very much astonished ; for he can hardly show that the 
historical Finns were known in these out-of-the-way' 
places. It seems to me natural to find that in Scotli 
and Ireland fairies dwelt in barrows, and in Annam i 
• "Folkiore," vol. i. pp. IIJ, 116. 



, hisJ^H 



that 
lical^J 

reeafl^l 
s to^l 

the 

ght 

'"6 m 

itb^H 




^^^ CONCLUSION. 351 

Arabia in hills and rocks ; and thai both in this country 
and in the far East they inveigled unhappy mortals into 
their dwelHngs and kept them for generations — nay, for 
centuries. That the Shoshone of California should dread 
their infants being changed by the Ninumbees, or dwarfs, 
in the same way as the Celts of the British Islands, and 
the Teutons too, dreaded their infants being changed, 
does not seem at all incredible to me. That to eat the 
food of the dead in New Zealand prevents a living man 
from returning to the land of the living, just as Persephone 
was retained in Hades by partaking of the pomegranate, 
and just as to eat the food of fairies hinders the Manx or 
the Hebrew adventurer from rejoining his friends on the 
surface of the earth, is in no way perplexing to me. But 
all these things, and they might be multiplied indefinitely, 
must be very perplexing to Mr. MacRitchie, if he be not 
prepared to prove that Annamices and Arabs, Hebrews 
and Shoshone, New Zealanders and classical Greeks aliksi 
were acquainted with the Picts and the Finns, and alike 
celebrated them in their traditions. 

The truth Mr. MacRitchie does not reckon with is, that 
no theory will explain the nature and origin of the fairy 
superstitions which does not also explain the nature and 
origin of every other supernatural being worshipped or 
dreaded by uncivilized mankind throughout the world. 
And until he shall address himself to this task, however 
ingenious his guesses, however amusing his philology, 
however delightfully wild his hterary and historical 
arguments, he will not succeed in convincing any 
serious student. 

Here then we must pause. Obvious are the differences 
between the nations of mankind : differences ot physical 
conformation, — that is to say, of race ; divergences of 
mental and moral development, — that is to say, of civiliza- 
tion. Hitherto the task attempted by folklore has been 
to show that underlying all these differences there is a 
I broad foundation of common agreement ; that distinctions 



352 THE SCIENCE OF FAIRY T 

of race do not extend to mental and moral constitution ;. 
that the highest nation on the ladder of culture haS' 
climbed from tht same rung on which the lowest are yet 
standing ; and that the absurd and incongruous customs 
and institutions and the equally absurd and impossible 
stories and beliefs found imbedded in the civilization of i 
the more advanced nations are explicable, and explicable 
only, as relics of the phases wherethrough those nations 
have passed from the depths of savagery. 

If it be admitted in general terms that the evidence 
collected and marshalled up to the present time has 
established among sure scientific facts so much of the past 
of humanity, this achievement is but the beginning of" 
toil. A iride field has been opened to the student for the 
collection and arrangement of details, before the true 
meaning of many a strange custom and stranger tale will 
be thoroughly understood. I have tried to do something 
of tlie kind in the foregoing pages. But beyond this 
there is the more delicate investigation of the ethnic 
element in folklore. Can we assign to the \ 
their special shares in the development of a common 
tradition ? Can we show what direction each race took, 
and hoiv and why it modified tlie general inheritance ? 

On the other hand, it is not asserted that the status 
savagery was the primitive condition of men. Of 
it may have been. But if not, there is work to be doi 
in endeavouring to ascertain what lies behind it. Th( 
questions started from this point wander across the border 
of folklore into pure psychology ; but it is a psychology 
based not upon introspection and analysis of the mind of 
the civilized man, developed under the complex influences 
that have been acting and reacting during untold years of 
upward struggling, alivays arduous and often cruel, but a 
psychology which must be painfully reconstructed from 
the simplest and most archaic phenomena disclosed by 
anthropological research. Who can say ivhat light may 
not thus be thrown as well on the destiny as on the origin 



liis 

lie ^^m 

on^^H 

)k,H 



APPENDIX. 



Bibliographical List of some of the Works referred to 

IN the foregoing Pages. 



-M- 



Aherd, Eistedd, See Trans. Aberd, Eistedd, 

Alpenburg. See Von Alpenburg. 

AMfiLiNEAU. Contes et Romans del' Egypte Chr^tienne par E. 
Am^lineau. 2 vols. Paris, 1888. 

Amer, F, L, Stt Journal Amer, F, L, 

Am Urds-Brunnen, Am Urds-Brunnen. Mittheilungen fiir Freunde 
volksthiimlich-wissenschaftlicher Kunde. 6 vols. [The first two 
volumes entitled Ain Urdhs-Brunnen^ Organ des Vereins fiir 
Verbreitung volksthiimlich-wissenchaftlicher Kuitde.l Rendsburg, 
1881-89. 

Antiquary, The Antiquary, a Magazine devoted to the study of the 
Past. 22 vols. London, 1880-90, still proceeding. 

Archivio, Archivio per lo studio delle Tradizioni Popolari Rivista 
Trimestrale diretta da G. Pitr^ e S. Salomone-Marino. 9 vols. 
Palermo, 1882-90, still proceeding. 

Arch, Rev, The Archaeological Review. 4 vols. London, 1888-90. 

Arnaudin. Contes Populaires recueillis dans la Grande Lande le 
Born les Petites-Landes et le Marensin par Felix Arnaudin. Paris, 
1887. 

Aubrey, Miscellanies, Miscellanies upon various subjects. By John 
Aubrey, F.R.S. 4th edition. London, 1857. 

Remaines. Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme. By John 

Aubrey, R.S.S. 1686-87. Edited and annotated by James 
Britten, F.L.S. London, 1881. (Folk-Lore Society.) 

Bahar-Danush, Bahar-Danush ; or Garden of Knowledge. An Ori- 
ental Romance. Translated from the Persic of Einaint OoUah. 
By Jonathan Scott. 3 vols. Shrewsbury, 1799. 

Baring-Gould. Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. By S. Baring- 
Gould, M.A. New edition. London, 1869. 

-Bartsch. Sagen, Marchen und Gebrauche aus Meklenburg. Gesam- 

24 



354 APPENDIX. 

melt und heraiisgegeben von Karl Bartsch. 2 vols. Wien, 

1879-80. 
Basset. Contes Populaires Berb^res recueillis, traduits et annot^s par 

Ren^ Basset. Paris, 1887. 
Bent. The Cyclades, or Life among the Insular Greeks. By J« 

Theodore Bent, B.A. London, 1885. 
BiRLiNGER, j4tis Schwaben. Aus Schwaben Sagen, Legenden, Aber- 

glauben, Sitten, Rechtsbrauche, Ortsneckereien, Lieder, Kinder- 

reime Neue Sammlung von Anion Birlinger. 2 vols. Wiesbaden, 

1874. 
Volksthiimliches. Volksthiimliches aus Schwaben. Herausgegeben 

von Dr. Anton Birlinger. 2 vols, and Worterbuchlein. Freiburg 

im Breisgau, 1861-62. 
Blad^. Contes Populaires de la Gascogne par M. Jean-Fran5ois 

Blade. 3 vols. Paris, 1886. 
Border Minstrelsy. Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border : consisting of 

Historical and Romantic Ballads, collected in the Southern 

Counties of Scotland. 3rd edition. 3 vols. Edinburgh, 1806. 
BowKER. Goblin Tales of Lancashire. By James Bowker, F.R.G.S.I. 

London, n.d. 
Braga. Ethnographia Portugueza. O Povo Portuguez nos sens 

Costumes, Cren9as e Tradi96es por Theophilo Braga. 2 vols. 

Lisboa, 1886. 
Brand. Observations on Popular Antiquities : chiefly illustrating the 

origin of our vulgar Customs, Ceremonies, and Superstitions. By 

John Brand, M.A., F. and Sec. S.A. Arranged and revised, with 

additions by Henry Ellis, F.R.S., Sec. S.A.. 2 vols. London, 181 3. 
Brauns. Japanische Marchen und Sagen gesammelt und herausgege- 
ben von David Brauns. Leipzig, 1885. 
Bray. See Mrs. Bray. 
Brett. The Indian Tribes of Guiana : their condition and habits. 

By the Rev. W. H. Brett. London, 1868. 
Legends and Myths, Legends and Myths of the Aboriginal 

Indians of British Guiana. Collected and edited by the Rev. 

William Henry Brett, B.D. London, n.d. 
Brython, See Y Brython. 
Burton, Nights. A plain and literal translation of the Arabian Nights' 

Entertainments, now entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights 

and a Night, with introduction, explanatory notes, &c. by Richard 

F. Burton. 10 vols. Privately printed. 1885. 
Snppl. Nights. Supplemental Nights to The Book of the 

Thousand Nights and a Night with notes anthropological and 

explanatory by Richard F. Burton. 6 vols. Privately printed. 
1886-88. 



APPENDIX. 355 

FBusK, Sagai. Sagas from the Far East ; or Kalmouk and Mpngolian 
Traditionary Tales. With hislorical preface and explanatory noles 
by the author of Patrailas, &c. [MLss R. H. Busk]. London, 
1873- 
iMPBELL. Popular Tales of the West Highlands orally collected 
with a translation by J, F. Campbell. 4 vols. Edinbui^h, 
186&-62. 
Camfbeh., I-ord A. See Lord A. Campbell. 
1 Carnov. Lill^rature Orale de la Picardie par E. Henry Carnoy. 

Paris, 18S3. 
I Castren, Allaischtn Volktr. M. Alexander Caslren's Ethnologiache 
Vorlesnngen iiber die .\llaischcn Volker nebst Samojedischen 
Miirchen und Tartarischen Heldensagen. Herausgegeben von 
Anton Schiefner. St. Petersburg, 1857. 
I CavalliUS. Schwedische Volkssagen und Marchen. Nach miind- 
licher Ueberlieferung gesamnielt und herausgegeben von Gnnnar 
Olof Hylten CavaHios und George Stephens. Mil Varianten und 
kcitisehen Anmerkungen. Deutsch von Carl Oberleilner, Wien, 
1S48. 
I Certeux et Caenoy. Conlributions au Fiilk-Lore des Arabes. 
L'Alg^rie Tradilionnelle Legendes, Conies, &c-, par A. Cerleux et 
B. Henry Carnoy. Firsl vol. only published. Paris, 1S84. 
I Chambers. Popular Rhymes of Scotland. Robert Chambers. Lon- 
don, 1870. 
IILD. The English and Scottish Popular Ballads edited by , 
Francis James Child. Boston, U.S..\. Privately printed. [The 
prospectus is dated l88z. It announced " about 8 parts " : only 
six of these (making three volumes) have heen issued to date.] 
ChokeNsles. Choice Notes from "Notes and Queries." Folk Lore. 
London, 1S59. 
, Comparetti. Novellinc Popolari Ilaliane pubblicnte ed illustrate da 
Domenico Comparetti. First vol. only published. Roma, 1875. 
I Carpil! Poel. Bor. Corpus Poeticum Boreale. The Poetry of the Old 
Northern Tongue from the earliest times to the thirteenth century. 
Edited by Gudbrand Vigfusson, M.A., and F. York Powell, M.A. 
3 voU. Oxford, 1883. 
Cotquin. Emmanuel Cosquin. Conies Populaires de Lorraine com- 
par& avec les Contes des autres Provinces de France el des Pays 
Etrangers. 2 vols. Paris, N.D. 
' Count Lucaiiar. Count Lucanor ; or The Fifty Pleasant Stories of 
Patronlo. Written by the Prince Don Juan Manuel and first 
done into English by James York, M.D., 1S68. London, 1888. 
CrOMEk. Remains of Nithsdale and Galloway Song with Historical 
and Traditional Notices relative to the Manners and Customs of 



356 APPENDIX. 

the Peasantry, now first published by R. H. Cromek, F.A.S. Ed. 

London, 1810. Reprint : Paisley, 1880. 
CuRTiN. Myths and Folk -Lore of Ireland by Jeremiah Curtin. 

London, 1890. 
Cymmrodor. See Y Cymtnrodor. 
Cymru Fit. *' Cymru Fu " ; yn cynwys Hanesion, Traddodiadau, yn 

nghyda Chwedlau a Dammegion Cymreig (oddiar lafar g^'lad a 

gweithiau y prif awduron). Wrexham, N.D. [Preface dated 

October i8iS2.] 
Cymru Fu N. and Q. Cymru Fu : Notes and Queries relating to the 

past History of Wales and the Border Countries. 2 vols. Cardiff, 

1887-90, still proceeding. 
Davies, Mythology. The Mythology and Rites of the British Druids 

by Edward Davies, author of Celtic Researches. London, 1809. 
Day. Folk-Tales of Bengal by the Rev. Lai Behari Day. London, 

1883. 
De Gubernatis, Novellifu. Le Novelline di Santo Stefano raccolte 

da Angclo De-Gubernatis. Torino, 1869. 
Usi Natal. A. De Gubernatis. Storia comparata degli Usi 

Natalizi in Italia e presso gli altri popoli Indo-Europei. Milano, 

1878. 
Zool. Myth. Zoological Mythology or The Legends of Animals 

by Angelo De Gubernatis. 2 vols. London, 1872. 
Dennys. The Folk-Lore of China, and its affinities with that of the 

Aryan and Semitic Races. By N. B. Dennys, Ph.D., F.R.GIS. 

London, 1876. 
Des Michels. Contes Plaisants Annamites traduits en Fran9aJs 

pour la premiere fois par Abel Des Michels. Paris, 1888. 
DORMAN. The Origin of Primitive Superstitions and their Develop' 

ment, &c., among the Aborigines of America. By Rushton M. 

Dorman. Philadelphia, 1881. 
DORSA. La Tradizione Greco-Latina negli usi e nelle credenze 

popolari della Calabria citeriore per Vincenzo Dorsa. 2a edizione. 

Cozenza, 1884. 
Early Trav. Early Travels in Palestine, edited by Thomas Wright 

Esq., M.A., F.S.A., &c. London, 1848. 
Ellis. The Tshi-speaking Peoples of the Gold Coast of West Africa. 

Their religion, manners, customs, laws, language, &c. By A. B. 

Ellis. London, 1887. 
Farrer. Primitive Manners and Customs. By James A. Farrer. 

London, 1879. 
F. L. Espan. Folk-Lore Espanol. Biblioteca de las Tradiciones 

Populares Espanolas. 11 vo's. Sevilla, 1883-90, still pro- 
ceeding. 



APPENDIX. 357 

Folk-Lore. Folk-Lore, a quarterly Review of Myth, Tradition, 
Institution, and Custom. London, 1890, still proceeding. 
[Organ of the Folk-Lore Society.] 

F,L. Journal. The Folk-Lore Journal. 7 vols. London, 1883-89. 
[Organ of the Folk-Lore Society.] 

F, L, Record. The Folk-Lore Record. 5 vols. N.D. [1878-82. 
Organ of the Folk-Lore Society.] 

Fleury. Litterature Orale de la Basse-Normandie (Hague et Val-de- 
Saire) par Jean Fleury. Paris, 1883. 

Garnett. The Women of Turkey and their Folklore by Lucy M. 
J. Garnett. The Christian Women. London, 1890. 

Gent. Afag. Lib, The Gentleman's Magazine Library : being a classi- 
fied collection of the chief contents of the Gentleman's Magazine 
from 1 731 to 1868. Edited by George Lawrence Gomme, F.S.A. 
II vols. London, 1883-90, still proceeding. [Vols, not num- 
bered, but distinguished by the title of their contents.] 

Gerv. Tilb. Des Gervasius von Tilbury Otia Imperialia. In einer 
Auswahl neu herausgegeben und mit Anmerkungen begleitet von 
Felix Liebrecht. Hannover, 1856. 

Gesta Romafiorum. Gesta Romanorum translated from the Latin 
by the Rev. Charles Swan, revised and corrected by Wynnard 
Hooper, B.A. London, 1877. 

Giles. Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Translated and 
annotated by Herbert A. Giles. 2 vols. London, 1880. 

Gill. Myths and Songs from the South Pacific By the Rev. 
William Wyatt Gill, B.A. London, 1876. 

GiRALD. Cam BR. The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales, 
translated by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart., in The Historical 
Works of Giraldus Cambrensis, edited by Thomas Wright Esq., 
M.A., F.S.A. London, 1887. 

GoNZENBACH. Sicilianische Marchen. Aus dem Volksmund gesam- 
melt von Laura Gonzenbach. 2 vols. Leipzig, 1870. 

Gredt. Sagenschatz des Luxemburger Landes. Gesammelt von Dr. 
N. Gredt. Luxemburg, 1885. 

Gregor. Notes on the Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland. 
By the Reverend Walter Gregor, M.A. London, 1881. (Folk- 
Lore Society.) 

Grey. See Sir G. Grey. 

Grimm, Marchen. Kinder- und Haus-Marchen gesammelt durch die 
Brlider Grimm. I7te Auflage. Berlin, 1880. 

Tales. Grimm's Household Tales. With the author's note>. 

translated from the German and edited by Margaret Hunt. 2 
vols. London, 1884. 
— Teut. Myth. Teutonic Mythology by Jacob Grimm trans- 



35 S APPENDIX. 

lated from ihe fourth edition with notes and appendix l>y James 
Steven Stallybrass. 4 vols, with continuous pagination. London, 
1880-8& 

Grin NELL. Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk Tales with notes on the 
Origin, Customs, and Character of the Pawnee People by George 
Bird Grinnell. New York, 1889. 

Grohmann. Sagen aus Bohmen gesammelt und herausg^eben von 
Dr. Josef Virgil Grohmann. Prag, 1883. 

Grundtvig. Danische Volksm'archen von Svend Grundtvig. Uber- 
setzt von Willibald Leo. Neue Ausgabe. 2^vols. Leipzig, 1885. 

GUBERNATis. See De Gubematis. 

Hahn. See Von Hahn. 

Haltrich. Deutsche Volksmarchen aus dera Sachsenlande in Sieben- 
biirgen. Gesammelt von Josef Haltrich. 4te Auflage. Wien, 
1885. 

Hapgood. The Epic Songs of Russia by Isabel Florence Hapgood. 
New York, n.d. [Preface dated August 1885.] 

Harlan u and Wilkinson. Lancashire Legends, Traditions, Page- 
ants, Sports, &c. By John Harland, F.S.A., and T. T. Wilkinson, 
F.R.A.S. London, 1873. 

Hazlitt, Fairy Tales, Fairy Tales, Legends and Romances illus- 
trating Shakespeare and other Early English writers to which are 
prefixed two preliminary dissertations by Joseph Ritson. [Edited 
by W. C. Hazlitt.] London, 1875. 

Henderson. Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties ot 
England and the Borders. New Edition. By William Henderson. 
London, 1879. (Folk-Lore Society.) 

How ells. Cambrian Superstitions, comprising Ghosts, Omens, 
Witchcraft, Traditions, &c. By W. Howells. Tipton, 1831. 

Hunt. Popular Romances of the West of England or the Drolls, 
Traditions and Superstitions of Old Cornwall collected and 
edited by Robert Hunt, F.R.S. 3rd edition, revised and enlarged. 
London, 188 1. 
I M BR I an I. La Novellaja Fiorentina fiabe e novelline stenografate in 
Firenze dal dettato popolare da Vittorio Imbriani. Ristampa 
accresciute di molte novelle inedite, &c., nelle quali e accolta La 
Novellaja Milanese dello stesso raccoglitore. Livorno, 1877* 

Im Tiiurn. Among the Indians of Guiana being sketches chiefly 
anthropologic from the interior of British Guiana. By Everard F. 
im Thurn, M.A. London, 1883. 
Indian N. and Q. Indian Notes and Queries (late ** Panjab Notes and 
Queries "), a Monthly Periodical conducted by Captain R. C. 
Temple and others. 7 vols. Allahabad, 1883-90, still pro- 
ceeding. 



APPENDIX. 359 

Irish Folk Lore^ or Irish F. L, Irish Folk Lore: Traditions and 

Superstitions of the Country ; with humorous tales. By 

" Lageniensis." Glasgow, n.d. [Preface dated April 1870.] 
Jahn. Volkssagen aus Pommern und Riigen. Gesammelt und 

herausgegeben von Dr. Ulrich Jahn. Stettin, 1886. 
Jannsen. Marchen und Sagen des estnischen Volkes gesammelt und 

ubersetzt von Harry Jannsen. Two series, ist ser. Dorpat, 1881 : 

2nd ser. Riga, 1888. 
Jones and Kropf. The folk-Tales of the Magyars. Collected by 

Kriza, Erdelyi, Pap and others. Translated and edited by the 

Rev. W. Henry Jones and Lewis L. Kropf. London, 1889. 

(Folk-Lore Society.) 
Journal, Amer, F. L. The Journal of American Folk-Lore. 3 vols. 

Boston, 1888-90, still proceeding. [Organ of the American Folk- 
Lore Society.] 
Kaleiuala. Kalewala, des National- Epos der Finnen, nach der zweiten 

Ausgabe ins Deutsche iibertragen von Anton Schiefner. Helsing- 

fors, 1852. 
Kathd Sarit Sdgara. The Katha Sarit Sagara, or Ocean of the Streams 

of Story translated from the original Sanskrit by C. H. Tawney, 

M.A. 2 vols. Calcutta, 1880-84. 
Keightley. The Fairy Mythology, illustrative of the Romance and 

Superstition of various Countries by Thomas Keightley. New 

Edition, revised and greatly enlarged. London, 1882. 
Kennedy. Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts. Collected and 

narrated by Patrick Kennedy. London, 1866. 
KiRBY. The New Arabian Nights. Select Tales, not included by 

Galland or Lane. Translated and edited by W. F. Kirby. 

London, n.d. 
^^\Knoop. Volkssagen, Erzahlungen, Aberglauben, Gebrauche und 

Marchen aus dem ostlichen Hinterpommern. Gesammelt von 

Otto Knoop. Posen, 1885. 
\^ Knowles. Folk-Tales of Kashmir. By the Rev. J. Hinton Knowles. 

London, 1888. 
Krauss. Sagen und Marchen der Siidslaven. Zum grossen Teil aus 

ungedruckten Quellen von Dr. Friedrich S. Krauss. 2 vols. 

Leipzig, 1883-84. 
Volksgl. Volksglaube und religioser Brauch der Siidslaven. 

Vorwiegend nach eigenen Ermittlungen von Dr. Friedrich S. 

Krauss. Miinster i W. 1890. 
Kreutzwald. Ehstnische Marchen. Aufgezeichnet von Friedrich 

Kreutzwald. Aus dem Ehstnischen ubersetzt von F. Lowe. 

Halle, 1869. 
KuHN. Markische Sagen und Marchen nebst einem Anhange von 



360 APPENDIX. 

Gebrauchen und Aberglauben gesammelt und herausgegeben von 

Adalbert Kuhn. Berlin, 1843. 
KuiiN UND Schwartz. Norddeutsche Sagen, Marchen und Gebrauche 

aus Meklenburg, &c. Aus dem munde des Volkes gesammelt und 

herausgegeben von A. Kuhn und W. Schwartz. Leipzig, 1848. 
Lady Wilde. Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of 

Ireland. By Lady Wilde. 2 vols. London, 1887. 
La Croix. Manners Customs and Dress during the Middle Ages and 

during the Renaissance Period by Paul La Croix (Bibliophile 

Jacob). 4th thousand. London, 1876. 
Landes. Contes et Legend es Annamites par A. Landes. Saigon, 

1886. 
La Tradition. La Tradition Revue Gen^rale des Contes, L^endes, 

Chants, Usages, Traditions et Arts populaires. 4 vols. Paris, 

1887-90, still proceeding. [Organ of the Societe des Tradition- 

nistes.] 
Leland. The Algonquin Legends of New England, or Myths and 

Folk-Lore of the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Tribes 

by Charles G. Leland. London, 1884. 
Lemke. Volksthiimliches in Ostpreussen von E. Lemke. 2 vols. 

Mohrungen, 1884-87. 
LiEBRECHT. Zur Volkskunde. Alte und neue Aufsatze von Felix 

Liebrecht. Ileilbronn, 1879. 
Llyvyr Coch. See Y Llyvyr Coch. 
Lord A. Campbell, Waifs and Strays, Waifs and Strays of Celtic 

Tradition. L Argyllshire Series. Edited by Lord Archibald 

Campbell. London, 1879. 
Luzel, Contes, Contes Populaires de Basse-Bretagne par F. ^L 

Luzel. 3 vols. Paris, 1887. 
-=:- Legendes ChrSt, Legendes Chretiennes de la Basse-Bretagne par 

F. M. Luzel. 2 vols. Paris, 1881. 

• VeilUes, Veillees Bretonnes par F.-M. Luzel. Morlaix, 1879. 

MacInnes. Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition. Folk and Hero 

Tales. Collected, Edited and Translated by the Rev. D. Mac 

Innes, With Notes by the Editor and Alfred Nutt. London, 

1890. 
MacRitchie. The Testimony of Tradition by David MacRitchie. 

London, 1890. 
Malory. La Mort d' Arthure. The History of King Arthur and of 

the Knights of the Round Table. Compiled by Sir Thomas 

Malory, Knt. Edited from the text of the edition of 1634 by 

Thomas Wright Esq., M.A., F.S.A. 2nd edition. 3 vols. 

London, 1866. 
Map. Gualteri Mapes De Nugis Curialium Distinctiones Quinque. 



Edited from Ihe unique manuacript in tiie BoillKian Lititary at 

Oxford by Tliomas Wrighl Esq., M.A., F.S.A.. &c. London, 

1850. 
Masiiavii Ala'navi. Masnavi i Ma'navi. The Spiritual Coupkl^ of 

Maalana Jal^lu-'d-DIn Muhammad i Ri'iml. Translated and 

abridged by E. H. Whinfield, M.A. London, 188;. 
Maspohs V Labkos. Folk-Loie Catala. Cnentos Populais Catalans 

per la Dr. Francisco de S. Maspons y Labros. Barcelona, 18S5. 
yMeiER. Deulache Sagen, Sitlen und Gebrauche aiis Schwaben, 

gesammelt von Ernst Meier. StuHgarl, 1852. 
MarcAcn. Deutsche Voltsmaichen aus Schwaben. Aus dem 

Munde des Volks gesammelt und hcrausgegeben von Dr. Ernst 

Meier. 31e Auflage. Stuttgart, N.D. 
Mltusine. Mcliisine Reciieil de Mythologie, Lilterature I'opulaire, 

Traditions et Usages public par H. Gaidoi el E. RoUand. [Since 

vol. iii. by H. Gaiduz alone.] 5 vols. Paris, 1878-90, still 

proceeding. 
MictlELs. See Des Michels. 
Mrs. Brav. The Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy j Uieir Natural 

History, &c., by Mrs. Bray. New Edition. 3 vols. London, 1879. 
MCllrr. Siebenblirgisclie Sagen gesammell und hernu^egeben von 

Dr. Friedrich Miiller. Zweile veranderte Aufiage. Wien, 1885. 
Napier. Folk Lore: or Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scot- 
land within this Century. By James Napier, F.R-S.E., F.C.S., 

&c. Paisley, 1S79. 
Nicholson. Folk Lore of East Yorkshire. By John Nicholson. 

London, 1890. 

lERHOt'FER. Mecklenburg's Volkssagen. Gesammclt und heiaus- 

gegeben von M. Dr. A. Niederhbffer. 4 V0I5. Leip/ig, n.u. 

(Vorworl dated Februar 1857.] 
OrToli. Les Conies Topulaires del' He de Corse pat J. B, Frederic 

OitoU. Paris, 1883. 
Panjttb N. ami Q. See Indian N. and Q. 
Pitk£. Biblioleca delle Tradiziani Fopolari Siciliane per cura di 

Giuseppe Pitri!. l3 vols. Palermo, 1871-88. 
PoESTlON. Lapplandische Marchen, Volkssagen, Rathsel und Spdch- 

worler. Nach lapplandischen, norwegischcn und sctiwedischen 

Quellen von J. C. Poestiou. Wien, 1886. 
Powell and Magkdsson. Icelandic Legends (collected by Jra 

Amason) Transfaled by George E. J. Powell and Eirikr Mag- 

niisson. znd series. London, 1S66. 
pREi,i.ER, Rdm. Myth. Hiimische Mythologie von L. Pteller. 3ie 

Auflage. 2 vols. Berlin, 1881-83. 
pRVM UND SOCIN. Kurdische Sammlungen. Enahlungen und Lieder 



362 APPENDIX. 

im dialekte des Tur 'Abdin. Gesammelt, herau^egeben und 
iibersetzt von Eugen Prym und Albert Socin. St. Petersbourg, 

1887. [A second part, by Socin only, consisting of tales and songs 
in the dialect of Bohtan, has since been published, 1890.] 
Radloff. Proben der Volkslitteratur der Turkischen Stamme Sud- 

Sibiriens, gesammelt und iibersetzt von Dr. W. Radloff. 6 vols, 
[the last two entitled P. der V. der Nordlichen Tiirkischen 

Stamme.] St. Petersburg, 1866-86. 
Ralston, A*. F. Tales, Russian Folk-Tales by W. R. S. Ralston, 

M.A. London, 1873. 
Tibetan Tales, Tibetan Tales derived from Indian Sources. 

Translated from the Tibetan of the Kah-Gyur by F. Anton von 

Schiefner. Done into English from the German by W. R. S. 

Ralston, M.A. London, 1882. 
Rappold. Sagen aus Karnten. Zusammengestellt und theilweise 

neu erzahlt von Professor J. Rappold. Augsbui^, 1887. 
Revue des Trail, Pop, Revue des Traditions Populaires. 5 vols. 

Paris, 1886-90, still proceeding. [Organ of the Society des 

Traditions Populaires.] 
Rhys, Hibbert Lectures, The Hibbert Lectures, 1886. Lectures on 

the Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by Celtic 

Heathendom. By John Rhys. London, 1888. 
Rink. Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo by Dr. Henry Rink. 

Translated from the Danish by the author. Edited by Dr. Robert 

Brown. Edinburgh, 1875. 
Robertson Smith. Lectures on the Religion of the Semites. First 

Series. The Fundamental Institutions. By W. Robertson Smith, 

M.A., LL.D. Edinburgh, 1889. 
Romero. Contos Populares do Brazil coUegidos pelo Dr. Sylvio 

Romero. Lisboa, 1885. 
Rom ILLY. From my Verandah in New Guinea Sketches and Tradi- 
tions by Hugh Hastings Romilly, C.M.G. London, 1889. 
Rosenol, Rosenol oder Sagen und Kunden des Morgenlandes aus 

arabischen, persischen und turkischen Quellen gesammelt. 2 vols. 

Stuttgart, 1813. 
Rudder. A New History of Gloucestershire. Cirencester, Samuel 

Rudder, 1779. 
Sastri. The Dravidian Nights Entertainments : being a translation 

of Madanakamarajankadai. By Pandit S. M. Natesa Sastri. 

Madras, 1886. 
Saxo, Gesta Dan, Saxonis Grammatici Gesta Danorum,herausgegeben 

von Alfred Holder. Strassburg, 1886. 
Schleicher. Litaiiische Marchen, Sprichworte, Ratsel und Lieder. 

Gesammelt und iibersetzt von August Schleicher. Weimar, 1857. 



3^3 

Schmidt. Griechisdie Marcher, Sagen und VolliBlieder Eesimraelt, 

iibersetzt uiii] erlaiitert von BernhatLlt Sdimidt. Leipiig. 1877. 
ScHNELLER. Marchen und Sngen aus Walschtitol. Gesammcll vnn 

Christian Schneller. Innsbruck, 1867. 
SCHRECK. Finnische Marchen iiberselzt von Emmy Sclireck. Weimar, 

1887. 
SfiBlLLOT, Ceiites. Paul S^billot. Conies Populaires dc la Haule 

Brelagnc. Paris, iSSo. Do. 2me a^rle. Contcs des Paysans et 

des Pecheurs. Paris, 1S81. Do, 3me serie. CoDtes des Marine. 

Paris, ESS2. 
Litl. Orale. Ijtt^ralurc Orale de la Haule Brelagnc par Paul 

Sehiliot. Paris, iSSi. 
Trad, et Super. Traditions el .Supers! [lions de la Haute Brelagne 

pir Paul Sebillol. 3 vols. Paris, 1882. 
SkortlAnd. Traditions and Superslilionsof the New Zealanders: wilh 

illualrations of their manners and customs. By Edward Shortland, 

M.A. 2nd edition. London, 1856. 
~SiK.ES. British Goblins; Welsh Folk-Lore, Fairy Mythology, 

L^ends and Traditions. By Wirl Sikes. London, 1S80. 
SiMROcK. Handbuch der Deutschen Mytliologie mil Einschluss 6er 

nordischen. Von Karl Simrock. 310 Auflage. Bonn, 1869, 
Sir G. Grey. Polynesian Mythology, and Ancient Traditional- 

History of the New Zealand Race, as furnished by their Priests 

and Chiefs. By Sir George Grey. London, 1855. 
SrlTTA Bey. Conies Arabea Modemes recueillis et Iraduits par 

Guillaume SpiUa-Bey. Leide, 1883. 
STEBre. Sn-ahili Tales, as lold by natives of Zaniibar. With an 

English Iranslalion. By Edward Steere, LL.D. London, 1870. 
Stephens. The Lileralurc of the Kymry : being a critical essay on 

the history of the Language and Literature of Wales during the 

twelfth and two succeeding centuries. By Thomas Stephens. 

2nd edition. London, 1S76. 
Sternberg. The Dialect and Folk-Lore of Northamptonshire. By 

Thomas Sternberg. London, 1851. 
Tavwjr. Te Ika a Maui ; or New Zealand and its Inhabitants. By 

the Rev, Richard Taylor, M.A., F.G.S. and edition. London, 1870. 
Temple, Legends of Ike Panjah. The Legends of the PanjSii. By 

Captain R. C. Temple. 2 vols. Bombay, N.D. [Preface to vol. 

i. dated May 1SS4.] Still proceeding. 
Tettau. See Von Teltau. 
Theal. Kaffir Folk-Lore; a Seleclion from the Traditional Tales 

current amongst the people living on the eastern border of the 

CapcColony. By George M'Cali Theal. London, N.D. [Preface 

dated Jon. 18S2.J , 



364. APPENDIX. 

Thomas of Erceldounb. The Romance and Prophecies of Thomas 
of Erceldoune, printed from five manuscripts. Edited, with intro- 
duction and notes, by James A. H. Murray, LL.D. London 
1875 (Early Eng. Text Soc.)- 

Thorburn. Bannii ; or, Our Afghan Frontier. By S. S. Thorburn. 
London, 1876. 

Thorpe. Northern Mythology, comprising tlie principal popular 
traditions and superstitions of Scandinavia, North Germany, and 
the Netherlands. Compiled by Benjamin Thorpe. 3 vols. London, 
1851-52. 

Yule- Tide Stories. Yule-Tide Stories. A collection of Scandi- 
navian and North German Popular Tales and Traditions. Edited 
by Benjamin Thorpe. London, 1853. 

Tradition. See La Tradition. 

Trad. Pop. Revue des. See Revue des Trad. Pop. 

Train. An Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man, 
from the earliest times to the present date. By Joseph Train, 
F.S.A. Scot. 2 vols. Douglas, 1845. 

Trans. A herd. Eistedd. Eistcdfodd Genedlaethol y Cymry. Cofno- 
dion a Chyfansoddiadau Buddugol Eisteddfod Aberdar, 1885. 
Transactions of the National Eisteddfod of Wales, Aberdare, 
1885. Caerdydd, 1887. 

Tylor. Primitive Culture: Researches into the development of 
Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom. By Edward 
B. Tylor. 2 vols. London, 1871. 

Vernaleken. In the Land of Marvels. Folk-Tales from Austria 
and Bohemia by Theodor Vernaleken. London, 1889. 

Volkskunde. See Zeits. f. Volkskunde. 

Von Alpenburg. Mythen und Sagen Tirols. Gesammelt und heraus- 
gegeben von Johann Nepomuk Ritter von Alpenburg. Ziirich, 

1857. 
Von Hahn. Griechische und albanesiche Marchen. Gesammelt 

Ubsrsetzt und erliutert von J. G. von Hahn. 2 vols. Leipzig, 

1864. 
Von Tettau. Die Volkssngen Ostpreussens, Litthauens und 

Wcstpreussens. Gesammelt vo:i W. J. A. von Tettau und J. 

D. H. Temme. Berlin, 1837. 
Von Wlislocki. Marchen und Sagen der Transsilvanischcn Zigeuner 

Gesammelt und iiberselzt von Dr. Heinrich von Wlislocki. 

Berlin, 1886. 
Waldau. Bohmisches Marchenbuch. Deutsch von Alfred Waldau. 

Prag, i860. 
Waldron. a Description of the Isle of Man by George Waldron, 

Gent. Edited by William Harrison, Esq. Douglas, 1 865. 



APPENDIX. 365 

Webster. Basque Legends : collected chiefly in the Labourd by 
Rev. Wentworth Webster, M.A. 2nd edition. London, 1879. 

Wenzig. Westslawischer Marchenschatz. Deiitsch bearbeitet von 
Joseph Wenzig. Neue Ausgabe. Leipzig, 1886. 

White. The Ancient History of the Maori, his Mythology and 
Traditions by John White. 4 vols. Wellington, 1887-89, still 
proceeding. 

Wide Awake Stories, Wide Awake Stories. A collection of tales 
told by little children, between sunset and sunrise, in the Panjab 
and Kashmir. By F. A. Steel and R. C. Temple. Bombay, 
1884. 

Wilde. See Lady Wilde. 

Wirt Sikes. See Sikes. 

Wlislocki. See Von Wlislocki. 

Wratislaw. Sixty Folk-Tales from exclusively Slavonic sources. 
Translated, with brief introductions and notes, by A. H. Wratis- 
law, M.A. London, 1889. 

Wright, Middle Ages. Essays on subjects connected with the 
Literature, Popular Superstitions and History of England in the 
Middle Ages. By Thomas Wright, M. A., F.S. A. 2 vols. London, 
1846. 

Y Brython. Y Brython : Cylchgrawn Llenyddol Cymru ; dan olygiad 

y Parch. D. Silvan Evans. 5 vols. Tremadog, 1858-63. 

Y Cynimrodor. Y Cymmrodor, embodying the Transactions of the 

Cymmrodorion Society of London. 10 vols. London, 1877-90, 
still proceeding. 

Y Llyvyr Cock. Y Llyvyr Coch o Hergest. Y gyvrol I. The Text of 

the Mabinogion and other Welsh Tales from the Red Book of 
Hergest edited by John Rhys, M.A. and J. Gwenogfryn Evans. 
Oxford, 1887. 

The Mabinogion, from the Welsh of the Llyfr Coch o Hergest 
(The Red Book of Hergest) in the Library of Jesus College, Oxford. 
Translated, with notes, by Lady Charlotte Guest. London, 1877. 
Zeits.f. Volksk. Zeitschrift fiir Volkskunde in Sage und Mar, Schwank 
und Streich, Lied, Ratsel und Sprichwort, Sitte und Brauch 
herausgegeben von Dr. Edmund Veckenstedt. 2 vols. Leipzig, 
1889-90, still proceeding. 



INDEX. 



-•o»- 



Actceon, 71 

Afghan legend, 183 

Alsatian tales, 213, 216 

American Indians, Tales of North, 

268, 271, 314, 315 
Ananci tale, 294 
Animism, 25 
Annamite tales, 200, 323 
Arabian Nights Entertainments, 50, 

69, 79. 84, 255, 260, 267 
Arab tales (see Arabian Nights 

Entertainments), 202, 300, 316, 

319 
Ardshi-Bordshi, 81 

Arthur, King, 205, 207, 211, 212, 

234 
Art of Story-telling, i, 5, 20. In 

Western Highlands, 5 ; Brittany, 
7 ; Portugal, Brazil, Gascony, 
Wales, England, 8 ; France, 
Sicily, 9 ; Panjab, 11 ; Cash- 
mere, New Zealand, Polynesia, 
Greenland, 12 ; among the Mala- 
gasy, Ahts, Indian tribes of 
Guiana, 13 ; in India, 14 ; among 
the Algonkins, ancient Germans, 
Anglo-Saxons, ancient Welsh, 15 ; 
Arabs, Guslars, 16; Swahilis, 17 ; 
Eskimo, 12, 19. 

Ascension Day, 90 

Aubrey, John, 148, 244 

Bahar Danush, 260 I 



Ballafletcher, Cup of, 156 

Bantik. See Celebes 

Bards, Welsh, 15 

Baptism, superstitions concerning, 

94, lOI 
Barrows, haunted, 141, 142, 146, 

231 
Basque tale, 293 
Berchta, Dame, 70, 90 
Blanik mountain, 184, 219, 220 
Blood relationship among savages, 

47 
Bohemian tales, 56, 119, 175, 184, 

219, 245, 251, 260, 294 
Bona Dea, 84, 87 
Bornoese tales, 300, 311, 324 
Breton tales, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66, 67, 

116, 138, 174, 190, 192,293 
Briar Rose, 247 
Buddhist influence on tales, 295, el 

seqq, 
Bulgarian tales. See Slavonic 
Burmese tale, 267, 297 
Burton, Sir Richard F. (see Arabian 

Nights Entertainments), 16 

Cabalists, the, a mediaeval sect, 341 
Carinthian tales, 173, 240 
Cashmere, tales from. See Indian 
Celebes Islands, tale from, 267, 297 
Changelings, 93, et seqq, 
Chinese superstitions, 97, 98 
Chinese tales, 177, 178, 299, 300 



368 



INDEX. 



Christening. See Baptism 
Christmas, 141, 142, 157, 159 
Coals turned to gold, 49 
Cologne, Three Kings of, 149, 150 
Coptic tale, 181 
Corpus Christi Day, 89 
Corsican tale, 274 
Cosquin, Emmanuel, 267, 297 
Coventry. See Godiva * 
Cretan tales. See Greek 
Cyclades, tale from. See Greek 

Danish superstitions, 96, 99, 231 
Danish tales, 40,44, 50, 56, 67, 103, 

114, 130, 131, 140, 141, 144, 151, 

185, 213, 294 
Dardistan, tale from, 49 
Davies, Rev. Edward, 136 
Dean, Forest of. See Forest 
Death, savage belief on, 27 
Derceto, a Phoenician goddess, 324 . 
Devil, the, 42, 47, 69, 263, 280 
Diana, 71 
Diedrich, 213, 233 
Dobocz, the robber chief, 218, 233 
Dracs of the Rhone, 65, 100 
Duffus, story of Lord, 148 
Dyak. See Bornoese 

Edenhall. See Luck 
Edgehill, Battle of, 235 
Edric the Wild, 302, 338, 340 
Eggshells, changelings detected by, 

153, et seqq.y 125 
Elidorus, tale of, 135 
English superstitions, 96, ico, 205 
English tales, 59, 61, 63, 64, 66, 68, 
69, 106, 116, 124, 126, 139, 145, 
146, 147, 178, 189, 211, 234, 244 
Epimenides, tale of, 183 
Eskimo tales, 137, 262 
Esthonian tales, 201, 273, 280 
Etiquette of various nations, 309, 

321 
Ezra, 182 



Fairy Births and Human Midwives, 

yj^etseqq,, S9, et seqq, 
Fairyland, 43, 47, 161, 196, 222 
Fairy Tales, definition of, 3 ; 

divisions of, 22 ; principles of 

explanation of, 32 
Feather- robe, 258, 267, 268, 298, 

300, 301 
Females, kinship through. See 

Kinship 
Finnish tales, 259, 329 
Fire, superstitions respecting, 96, 97 
Forest of Dean, 78 
Folktale (sec Art of Story-telling), 

connection with folksong, 14 ; 

how to be reported, 21 
Frazer, J. G., 31, 249, 252 
Frederick Barbarossa, 172, 213 
French superstitions, 96 
French tales (see Breton), 42, 47, 

65, 114, 119, 272, 293, 324, 342 
Frog, Fairy as. See Toad. 

Gaelic tales. See Scottish 

Gerald, Earl, 210, 233 

German superstitions, 95, 96, 99, 
108, 140, 143, 279, 281 

German tales [see Alsatian, Pome- 
ranian, Riigen, Swabian, Tran- 
sylvanian), 48, 103, 113,114, 118, 
124, 126, 130, 137, 138, 139, 140, 
142, 143, 149, 152, 172, 177, 185, 
188, 192, 212, 214,215, 216, 217, 
238, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 259, 
281, 327 

Gervase of Tilbury, 65, 100, 145? 
212, 234, 272, 284 

Giraldus Cambrensis, 135 

Gloucestershire (see Forest of Dean, 
St. Briavels), 145 

Godiva, legend of Lady, Ti^et seqq. 

Gold Coast, custom at, 86 

Gold Coast, tales of, 313, 324 

Gold, fairy, turns to dross, 50 



INDEX. 



369 



Grateful animals. See Buddhist 
Gratitude, fairy, 48, 218, 312, 316 
Greek superstitions, 99, 100 
Greek tales, 55, 82, 242, 267, 269, 

290, 317 
Grey, Sir George, 12, 285 
Grimm, 120, 140,212, 213, 216, 233 
Guiana, tales from7^26i, 289, 297, 

299, 324 
Guernsey, tales from, 62, 66, 114 

Hades, food of, must not be eaten, 

43, 44, 45, 47 
Harold II., King, 72, 205 
Hasan of Bassorah, tale of, 255, 291, 
Hebrew tale, 41, 55 
Helpful beasts. See Buddhist 
Herla, King, tale of, 178, 234 
Hero, the Hidden, the Sleeping, 

20$, etseqq., 228, 235 
Hertha, a German goddess, 71, 89, 

90 
Hindoo customs, tales. See Indian 
Highland tales. See Scottish 
HoUe, Dame, 215, 236 

Icelandic tales, 113, 193 
Imagination among savages, 2, 33 
Im Thurn, Everard, 13, 230 
Indian customs, 84 
Indian tales, 82, 227, 268, 296, 317, 

318. 338 
lolo Morganwg, 207 

Irish superstitions, 96, 121, 123, 210, 

211 
Irish tales, 50, 52, 63, 107, 116, 118, 

122, 128, 196^ 198, 202, 210, 211, 

259» 314. 324» 338 
Iron, dislike of supernatural beings 

to, 50, 97, 126, 164, 306 
Irving, Washington, 177, 181 
Italian superstitions, 99 
Italian tales {see Corsican, Sicilian, 

Tirolese), 199, 293 



Japanese tales, 174, 178, 194, 273, 

301 
Jewish tales. See Hebrew 
Jeremiah the prophet, 181 

Kaffir tale, 328 

Kan Piidai, 42 

Katha-sarit-sagara, 318 

Keats, 313 

Kinship through females, 228, ei 

seqq. 
Kirk Malew, Cup of, 155 
Koran. See Mohammed 
Kurdish tale, 262, 292 
Kurroglii, the robber-poet, 80 
Kyfifhauser, 172, 214, 215, 229 

Lady Wilde. See Wilde 
Lapp superstitions, 108 
Lapp tales, 38, 57, 173, 329 
Liebrecht, Felix, 79, ; his Ghost 

Theory-, 337 
Lithuanian superstitions, 96 
Lithuanian tales, 104, 120, 220, 221 
Li Kt, a Chinese classic, 321 
Loo Choo Islands, tale from, 318 
Longfellow, 187 
Luck of Edenhall, 153 
Luther on Changelings, 109, 124 
Luxemburg, 240, 253, 324 
Luzel, F. M., 7, 190 

Mabinogion, 188 

MacRitchie, David, his Finn Theory, 

349, et seqq. 
Mahabharata, 317 
Magyar tale, 260 
Malagasy tale, 287 
Malory, Sir Thomas, 205 
Manx superstitions, 108, 210 
Manx tales, 41, 106, 117, 155 
Maori customs, 290 
Maori tales, 45, 274, 285, 288, 289,. 

317. 319 



25 



370 



INDEX. 



Map, Walter, 178, 234, 302, 338, 

340, 341 
Marko, Prince, or King, tale of, 218 

Marquis of the Sun, tale of, 264, 

291, 293 
Marriage settlements, Indian, 321, 

322 
Maundeville, Sir John, 11 1, 239 
Meddygon Myddfai, 325 
Melusina, 240, 253, 272, 273, 321, 

324. 327 
Merlin, 209 

Messia, the Sicilian story-teller, 9 
Metamorphosis, 26, 31 
Midsummer Day. See St. John's 

Day 
Mid wives, adventures of. See Fairy 

Births 
Minstrel in Middle Ages, 15 
Mohammed, 182, 224 
Mohel, adventure of a, 41, 55 
Moravian tale, 274 
Morgan the Fay, 43, 204 
Morris, JWilliam, 239, 260, 261 
Mother-right. See Kinship 
Myddfai, Physicians of. See Meddy- 
gon 

Names, Savage feeling about, 309 

Napoleon I., 206 

Nereids, 55, 99, 242, 267, 317, 325 

Netherlands, lale from, 188 

New Guinea, tale from, 322 

New Year's Eve and Night, 69, 248 

New Zealand. See Maori 

Nightmare, the, 278, et seqq, 

Norwegian tales. See Scandinavian 

Odin. See Woden 

Ogier the Dane. See Olger 

Ointment, Magical, 59, et seqq. 

Oisin, 196, 198 

Oldenburg Horn, 149 

Olger the Dane, 43, 204, 213 

Omens, 30 



Osburg, foundress of nunnery at 

Coventry, 90 
Ossian. See Oisin 
Ovid, 71 

Owen Glendower, 209 
Owen Lawgoch, 209 

Parsees. See Sad Dar 

Peeping Tom. See Godiva 

Peleus. See Thetis 

Perrault, 247 

Pitre, Dr., 9, 53, 192 

Pliny, 86, 183 

Pomeranian tales, 48, 51, 141, 217, 

237, 242, 243, 251, 262, 2S1 
Polynesian tales, 44, 45, 267, 319, 

324 
Portuguese superstition, 206 

Portuguese tale, 181 

Princess, the Enchanted, 237 et 

seqq.i 262 

Proserpine, 43, 48 

Revenge, Fairy, 52, 59, et seqq., 65, 

et seqq. 
Rhys, Professor, 37, 64, 66, no, 

163, 164, 188, 231, 325, 330 
Rip van Winkle, 177 
Robberies from Fairyland, 135, et 

seqq. 
Roger of Wendover. See Godiva 
Roman superstition, 96 
Russian tales, 119, 259, 265, 294, 

298, 344 
Riigen, Island of, tales from, 71, 89, 

127, 152, 236 

Sad Dar, a sacred book of Parsees, 

96 

Samoyede tale, 268 
Savage ideas, 22 ; evidence of, 32 
Savages, imagination among, 2 
Saxo Grammaticus, 44 
Scandinavian tales {see Icelandic, 



INDEX. 



371 



Danish), 38, 115, 142, 150, 155, 
217, 258, 281, 294, 318 
Scottish superstitions, 94, 95, 96,127, 

133 

Scottish tales, 55, 61, 98, 105, iii, 

112, 118, 120, 121, 122, 125, 127, 
130, 131, 132, 144, 148, 165, 166, 
167, 180, 186, 241, 266, 293, 312 
Sebastian, Don, 206 
S^billot, Paul, 67 
Seven Sleepers, the, 182 
Siberian tales, 42, 169 
Sicilian superstitions, 100, 1 1 1 
Sicilian tales, 53, 192, 212, 299 
Siegfried, ^r Sigurd, 212, 247 
Sikes, Wirt, 64, 123, 137, 165, 278 
Simrock, Karl, loi, 116 
Slavonic superstitions, 206, 279 
Slavonic tales (see Bohemian, Rus- 
sian, Lithuanian), 218, 266, 267, 
298, 312 
Southam, procession at, 85 
Southey, 187 

Spanish superstitions, 100, 205 
Spanish tales, 187, 226, 264, 294, 

315* 325, 339 
Spirits, doctrine of, 25, 42 

St. Augustine, 100, 235 

St. Briavels, custom at, 78, 87 

Stephens, Professor Dr. Geo., 150 

St. John's Day, 214, 236, 238, 248 

Story-telling, Art of. See Art 

Stoymir, the Knight, 220, 233 

Swabian tales, 39, 52, 147, 244, 245, 

253 
Swan-maidens, 202, 255, e^ seqq.^ 

283,^/ seqq,^ 337 

Swedish tales. See Scandinavian 

Swiss tale, 49 

Taboo, 270, 302, 304, 305, 306, 

309* 3"»3i2, 318, 320, 337 
Tacitus, 15, 71, 89 
Tarn Lin, ballad of, 242 



Tawhaki and Tango-tango, tale of, 

285, et seqq. 
Thetis, 242, 317, 329 
Thomas of Erceldoune, 43, 102, 103 
Time, supernatural lapse of, 161, ct 

scqq.f 196, et seqq.., 222, et seqq. 
Tini-rau, tale of, 286, et seqq. 
Tir na n 'Og. See Oisin 
Tirolese tales, 70, 184, 274, 293, 315, 

325» 329» 348 
Toad or frog, fairy as (see Princess), 

51. 52, 53» 338 
Totemism, 27, 324, 331, 346 
Tradition, definition of, 34 
Traditions, variable value of, 4, 24 
Transformations, doctrine of, 26, 31 
Transylvanian tales, 52, 176, 189, 

246, 258, 347 

Ulrich von Rosenberg, 220, 233 

Van Pool, Lady of the, 274, 325, 330 
Vikramaditya, 81 
Vitra, 38 

Wainamoinen, 45 
Waldron, Geo., 41, 108, 156 
Wastin of Wastiniog, tale of, 302 
Welsh superstitions, 110, 126, 207, 

209 
Welsh tales, :i'j, 62, 63, 103, 113, 
115, 122, 123, 126, 128, 135,136, 
162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 
187, 188, 207, 209, 225, 269, 274, 
294» 30i» 302, 304, 305' 317. 325. 

327' 330 
Wenzel, King, 184, 219 

Western Highlands, story-telling in, 

5 
Weyland Smith, 318 

Wilde, Lady, 102, 128 

Wild Edric. See Edric 

Wild Hunt, the, 233,234, 236 

William of Newbury, 146 

Witchcraft, 29 



372 INDEX. 

Witches, 99, 143, 173, 336, 348 York, custom at, 90 

Woden, 212, 233, 247, 339 Yorkshire, 189, 211 

Yatsh, or demon, wedding, 49 , Zoroaster, 96 



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"PreaenU thfl poel'a Ufa [ciaueatLj rounded ptctare." — SeUmrMn, 
LIFE OF CAPTAIS MAEBYAT. Bj Divn. Hannat. 

■• Wb bays nithine but praisB for the manDu in which Mr. Hann«j b: 
dano jilaiJcs ta him." — Saturday Rtoww, 



UTE. OP MILTON. 

"Hunerecbeen 
LIFE OF BALZAC. By Fbedkriok Wkduoek. 

"Mr. Watlmon'B monograph on tbe grsiiUit of French nriten of Hclion. 
piece oTcarefnl and critical compoaitioD. nest and nln ioatjle."-^l)ailv 

UPE OP GEORGE ELIOT. By OsOiB Brownwo. 

"A book of tha cbnracUr of Mr. Browning'a, to itand mtdwaT b«- 
tvaen the bulkT wotk of Mr. CiDsi and tbs lary ili|;hC iliBtcti of Mlw 
Blind, wai laadh to bs dsiired. and Mr. Broifning tuin dona hli work with 
•iiacit;. and not vlttaouli akilL"— JfancAuMr Otutrdian. 

LIFE OF JANE ADSTEN. By GoLDwnC amrtt. 

"Mr. Ooldalh Smltb hu added onolber to Ibenot Incaniiderable roll 



T" "ih^' ^"^ I 



t found their delieht hi Mlsa Auaten. . . . 
liahed b; Walter Soott, la certainly a n 
ruu ikii-eadrknov her and lore her well; and < 

wlU pnuB alao a fMcinadng book to tjiau wl 
^qualntance. " — SpectaUv^ 



UFB OF BROWNING. By WlLLIiM Shahp 

" Tbta little lolnme la a model of excellent Engllab, sod li 
It aeenu bo ui what a bi^grapby abuDld be."— f^ii Opinion 
LIFE OF BYEON. By Hon. Bodbn Noel. 

■■The Uon. Roden Noel's TOluma on Bvron ia decidedly 01 
readable In tha excellent 'Great Writers^ aeries."— Scoltif A J 



platitude and cunientlonaUty.''— fAi Sfeal 
LIFE OP SCHOPENHAUER, By PBoraaaoa WaLLiOa. 

■'Wa can apeak very bighly of thla little book of Mr. Wallace'i., 



<TT, I^HITED, Paterni 



ORRAT WKITBBS-roniiniled. 
LITR or SBERIDAS. Bf Llotd &ua>lB& 

" Ta NV ihu Mr. Uonl SodiD. in Ihic Uttk >idBB^ hu indw^ thwd 
b«t aUOag maaoii of Sbnidaji, I* n«llr >a kmid BKfa ^ntv BOfaa.! 
Uiw Um mrk ilmi tM.--Jhna4tg ITianfmi P 

UTK OF THACKKKAT. By Hxut^ Hbdvau and 7. X MfT"T^. I 



"Tlw Boaooapfa tattpaUMnd b nl 
«i(b iUncJMtb&liiiymptir. !■ ana ' 
fnwT nadar ew vdD alum to mim.'- 



im OF CEKVAHTCS. B7 B. E. W«TTt. 
<» wbicb it btk^s.'— Lflidn I>(i<I)i nmKfr 

UFS or TOLTAIBS. Bj PUVCB Qaum. 

Otatgt SalnUbarT. in nk JU m ft dtt d IbwJbm JTmh, ajs:— "Ib tfab 
Uni*nilaaMUw«>r^riB«su oba hH no Hb* to danar Itbnrio wtU 
flndmoMitdBpthatitcaDCfm bim to koow aboM TuftalrCi aecaal lila 
and w«fc pal *«tt dearif, nifflddktjy^ and anaiKt^ Ic ^' - - - 

LIFE OF LEIGH HUST. By Cosxo MojKBorsi. 

** Hr^ Monkhoosa haa hna^t toffpther and tkiUallT we 




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THE CANTERBURY POBTS-cominued. 

...With Introduction hy Williaai Sharp 
Kdiled by John Hogben. 

HEENB E(iil«dbjMT».KpoBkBr. 

BBAUUONT AND FLBTCHEB Edited by John 8. Fletcher. 

BOWLES, LAHB, Ao KdiUd b/ William Tirebuck. 

BAIU.y ENGLISH POETRY Editudby H. UbciuIaj ntlgibboii. 

SK&HUSIC f Bdiled by Mn Bhirp. 

BERBICE Edited by KmestRhjI. 

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IBISH MIHSTRELSV Edited by H. Halliday SpuUng. 

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UOOBE Edited by Jgho Dmrian. 

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BODTHEY Edited by Sidney E. Thompmn. 

CHAUCER Edited by Frederick Nea Faton. 

rOBMSor WILD LIFE Edited by Chjirlea O. D. noberle, M.A. 

paradise: SEGAINED Edited by J. Bradah&v, M.A., LL.D. 

CRABBB.. Edited by E. Lafflpleneh. 

DORA GREENWELL Edited by WilUam Darling. 

FAUST Edited bf Elisabeth Ctelgmyle- 

AHERICAN BONNSTS Edited by William Sharp. 

IiANDOR'S POEUS Edited by Ernest Bodfoid. 

GREEK ANTHOLOGT Edited by OraliBm B. Tnmeon. 

HUNT AND HOOD Edited by J. Barwood PBnttag. 

HUMOROUS POEUS Edited by Ealpb H Caine. 

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GREAT ODES Edited by William Sharp. 

MEREDITH'S FOEMB Edited by M. Betham-Edtstdit. 

PAINTKR-FOETS..^ „ Edited by KiBelon Park* 

WOMEN POETS ....„..„„» Edited by Mrs. Sharp. 

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HINOB SCOTCH LYSICS Edited by Sir Oeorga Boaglu 

CAVALIER LYRISTS Edited by Will H. D!rck>. 

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60MGS OF BERANGER Trnnilated by William Toynbee. 

HON. RODBN NOEL'S POEMS. With an latroduction by K. Buchanan. 

BONGS OF FREEDOM. Selected, with an Introduction, by H. S. iiaiL 

CANADIAN POEMS AND LAYS .... Edited by W. D. Lij-lithaU, M.A. 

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POEMS or NATUKS Mdiled by E. W. Rlnder. 

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In the new edicton there are added KbouC taitj reprodnctloni 

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Music of the Poets: 

A MUSICIANS' BIRTHDAY BOOK. 

ESlTBIl B 



Tuta In k nnlqne Blrthda; Book. Again.it each daU ere 
flvfln thB namu of mtuicdana whaae birthday lb ia, togethet 
with a Terae-qDotallon appcopriate to the charaoter of their 
different coDipoaltions ot perfDrnuuK^ea. A apedal featara of 
the book conaidta in the reproduction hi fau-simile of anto- 
Eraphs, and autographic mnsIC) of living compoaerti. Thna 

volume- It ia Uluatrated with designs of various muslcU 
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London- WalteB Scott, Limited, Patorni 



ir Square. 



"•M 



on 






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n 



M 



i938 

' '. ft 

,G 1 • =^2 
tRVED 



^> 1194? 




' "«« ' » w* JUN 7 1981 

FEB 2 .970 i.UG 141982 



MAY 4 1980 



OCT 3 



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Stanford University Library 

Stanford, California 



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